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Jessica Watson
Jessica is a former associate editor at Intermission, as well as a writer, classically-trained actor, and plant enthusiast. Since graduating from LAMDA in the UK with her MA in acting, you can often find her writing screenplays and short plays in the park, writing extensive lists of plant care tips, or working on stage and screen (though she uses a stage name). Jessica freelances with various companies across Canada, but her passion lies in working with theatre artists and enthusiasts.
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iPhoto caption: Headshot by Andy Moro.
Tara Beagan wins 2025 Governor General’s Award for drama
Published by Playwrights Canada Press, her multilingual play Rise, Red River connects environmental devastation with the intergenerational impacts of colonial violence.
iPhoto caption: Olivier Normand in 'The Far Side of the Moon.' Photo by Li Wang.
REVIEW: Lepage’s ethereal The Far Side of the Moon is insomniac theatre
The Far Side of the Moon begins and ends with a large mirror on stage, and the show extracts enigmatic power from the tantalizing question of whether its protagonist is losing himself in his reflection, or moving toward self-discovery.
iPhoto caption: Shaakir Muhammad, Christopher Gerty, and Matthieu Pagès with artists of the National Ballet in 'Procession.' Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada.
REVIEW: National Ballet’s Procession tangles the lines of sorrow and sensuality
Procession, the National Ballet of Canada’s brooding and stylized world premiere ballet, rushes to the stage with startling vitality — and does so at a funeral.
iPhoto caption: The company of 'CHILD-ish.' Photo by Jae Yang.
REVIEW: Tarragon’s CHILD-ish takes a hopeful and hilarious look at life through kids’ eyes
It’s a giggly good time, if a pinch oversweet.
iPhoto caption: Vincent LeBlanc-Beaudoin, Drew Moore, and Peter James Haworth in 'Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre.' Photo by Emelia Hellman.
REVIEW: At Ottawa’s GCTC, you won’t expect what happens when Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre
Sarah Kitz’s production leans into the play’s real strength: its exploration of narrative. The characters attempt to narrativize the play’s events before, after, and even while they take place. But their failure to impose narrative logic onto complex realities only results in escalating cycles of violence.
iPhoto caption: 'Kokuho' still courtesy of TIFF.
REVIEW: During this year’s TIFF, two films depicted theatre as a vessel for transcendence
Of the several performing arts-adjacent selections I took in, most affecting were two dramas: Lee Sang-il’s Kokuho and Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. In both period pieces, theatre creation serves as an emotional outlet for an artist navigating devastating loss.
Pakistani-Canadian actor Ahad Raza Mir ‘goes back to basics’ with Brampton production of Hamlet
“The South Asian community in Calgary, and even Toronto, is a whole different story than Brampton in terms of size,” says Mir. “I'm excited to have this show come to a larger group of South Asians: most importantly, young people who maybe want to go into the arts who want to be actors."
iPhoto caption: From top left, clockwise: Nikki Shaffeeullah, Adele Noronha, Michelle Mohammed, Jay Northcott, Anand Rajaram, and Virgilia Griffith.
Tarragon Theatre Announces A Poem for Rabia Cast
Award-winning theatre and film artist Nikki Shaffeeullah’s play A Poem for Rabia will make its debut in a Tarragon Theatre production in association with Nightwood Theatre and Undercurrent Creations.
iPhoto caption: Jeremy Smith and Tom Lillington in Driftwood Theatre's Living With Shakespeare. Original image by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: Living With Shakespeare at Driftwood Theatre
Living With Shakespeare is a deeply intimate exploration of Smith’s life and work, using Shakespeare’s words to bring to life some of his most personal, exciting, and challenging experiences.
REVIEW: Shakespeare By Any Other Name at Dauntless City Theatre
Part history lesson, part joyful romp through Shakespeare’s works, the sixty-minute play in the heart of St. James’ Park attempts to return the playwright to the people.
Guild Festival Theatre’s The Drowning Girls Opens in Scarborough
GFT’s final production is the multi-award-winning play The Drowning Girls, a true crime tale about three women married to and murdered by the same man.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Reveals Their 45th Anniversary Season
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is celebrating with a season that showcases both epic queer stories from history and innovative new works from a diverse roster of artists.
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