2025 NL Provincial Drama Festival
April 19 – 26, 2025 - Corner Brook Arts & Culture Centre
Adjudicator – Jillian Keiley (Bio)
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Saturday, April 19th – 7:30 PM
The Cayuga Canal Girls by Laura King
Off·Broadway Players, Corner Brook
Five female childhood friends reunite in their historic hometown of Seneca Falls, N.Y., to lay one of their own to rest. As they struggle to come to grips with the surprising death, they reopen old wounds, face harsh realities and confront the compromises they have made in their lives. But as the day wears on, the women learn that even though into each life some rain must fall, the rain offers a cleansing promise of new possibilities.
Sunday, April 20th – 7:30 PM
The Odd Couple (Female Version) by Neil Simon
Avion Players, Gander
Unger and Madison are at it again! Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in the female version of Neil Simon's hilarious contemporary comic classic, The Odd Couple. Instead of the poker party that begins the original version, Ms. Madison has invited the girls over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit. The guys are replaced by the gals, and the Pidgeon sisters are replaced by the Costazuela brothers, but the hilarity remains the same.
Monday, April 21th – 7:30 PM
Bothered and Bewildered by Gail Young
St. John’s Players, St. John’s
A comedy drama about one woman's struggle with Alzheimer's. The play follows Irene and her two daughters Louise and Beth as the girls lose their mum in spirit but not in body. As her family struggle to come to terms with her Alzheimer's, Irenes past passion for romantic literature blurs with reality. She spends hours discussing how best to write her 'memory book' with her imaginary friend and favourite author Barbara Cartland (the deceased world famous romantic novelist), disclosing long kept family secrets that she would never divulge to her daughters.
Tuesday, April 22th – 7:30 PM
A Rock Sails By by Sean Grennan
Carol Players, Labrador West
Astrophysicist Dr. Lynn Cummings has always believed in science over faith in the unknown. But now that her life is changing, the certainty that was once a source of comfort has become a source of emptiness. When an unidentified flying object is sighted heading toward Earth, she grants an interview to a journalist who misquotes her. With her credibility on the line, she invites him to witness the object as it comes closest to the Earth with her. Dr. Cummings hopes it will pass without incident, but there is no telling what she will discover beyond the stars.
Wednesday, April 23th – 7:30 PM
Duckish: The Ghost and Fairy Stories of Tom Dawe adapted by Susan Bonnell
Theatre CBS, Conception Bay South
"So much goes through an old fellow's mind on nights like this, when the wind drives white vapours across windowpanes and frost cracks in the beams...". Based on stories from Tom Dawe's An Old Man's Winter Night and Spirited Away, this original production is adapted for the stage by our own Susan Bonnell. Join us for a nostalgic night filled with fairies and folklore and lots of fun!
Thursday, April 24th – 7:30 PM
The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson
Madrock Theatre, Bay Roberts
Three sisters; Teresa, Mary and Catherine, come together before their mother's funeral, each haunted by their own demons. The play focuses on how each sister deals with the death and how it directly affects them. The three each have different memories of the same events, causing constant bickering about whose memories are true. As the three women get together after years of separation, all their hidden lies and self-betrayals are about to reach the surface.
Friday, April 25th – 7:30 PM
Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies
Northern Lights Theatre Company, Labrador West
Set in Brooklyn, the story revolves around Sarah, a photo journalist who has returned from covering the Iraq war after being injured by a roadside bomb, and her reporter boyfriend James who is swamped by guilt after leaving Sarah alone in Iraq. They receive a visit from their friend Richard, a photo editor, who introduces them to his new girlfriend Mandy, who is much younger than he. The play focuses on their relationships and Sarah and James' prospects at a more conventional life.
Saturday, April 26th – 7:30 PM
Jam, Toast, and Orgasms by Shirley Morrow
Northcliffe Drama Club, Grand Falls·Windsor
Nearly 30 years ago, three friends were drawn together in a relationship that would test their loyalties and unknowingly spark a love triangle. What started as a solid friendship quickly crumbles under a foundation of deceit and lies. One of them flees to start a new life rather than face her personal demons. When an unexpected death brings her back home, the reunion raises great moral dilemmas as she struggles to justify her actions when the tension escalates and we chip away at layers of deceit to expose the truth.
Adjudicator
Jillian Keiley is an Artistic Director, director and educator who has worked extensively across Canada and internationally. She began her career as the Associate Artistic Director at the Resource Centre for the Arts in St. John's, Newfoundland, was the founding Artistic Director of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, and remains an Associate of the company alongside current Artistic Director Robert Chafe.
At Artistic Fraud, Jillian helmed acclaimed productions such as In Your Dreams Freud, Under Wraps, Afterimage, The Cheat, The Chekhov Variations, Salvage: The Story of a House, Oil and Water, Between Breaths, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and I Forgive You, most of which toured national. In 2012, she became the Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, a role she held until 2022. Her highlights at the NAC include Tartuffe by Andy Jones, A Christmas Carol,Twelfth Night (in collaboration with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop), Metamorphoses, and Copenhagen.
Jillian's versatility as a director extends past plays to opera, musicals, children's theatre, large-scale experiential installations, ceremonies and awards shows. For the Stratford Festival she directed Anne Carson's Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank, As You Like It, The Neverending Story, a radical adaptation of Richard II by Brad Fraser, and Alice Through the Looking Glass. Her production of Alice toured across Canada, incorporating local casts in Ottawa, Edmonton, Charlottetown, Stratford, and Winnipeg.
Her collaboration with playwright Robert Chafe on Tempting Providence for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador toured nationally and internationally for 13 years. More recently, Jillian directed Tell Tale Harbour for the Charlottetown Festival and became the Artistic Director of You Are Here Inc., a company dedicated to producing an all-new production of Come From Away set in Gander, Newfoundland. Both productions were among Canada's top-selling shows the year they were produced. This summer Jillian will remount Come From Away in Gander in its third year, and she will direct the Opening Ceremonies of the Canada Games.
Internationally, Jillian has directed productions in Italy, Australia, and Ireland. She also regularly teaches and mentors emerging artists, including ongoing engagements with The National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal.
Her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including the Canada Council John Hirsch Prize, the 2004 Siminovitch Prize for Directing, and honorary doctorates from Memorial University and York University.
