Vision

2b theatre company is a driving artistic voice, bringing innovative works of great ambition, rigour, care, and impact to the world stage.

Mission

2b theatre company strives to stimulate the mind and awaken the spirit by producing theatre that is innovative and challenging. We create, produce, present, and tour original work nationally and internationally. Our work is part of the evolution of contemporary theatre aesthetics. We are also an incubator, central to a thriving national theatre community, that offers a range of creation, performance, and production opportunities for arts professionals from our region and beyond.

Meet the Team
Professional Development
Highlights and Production History

Artistic Director’s Statement

by Christian Barry

“Art is never finished, merely abandoned.”

This is a draft.

That’s how we work at 2b. Theatre is ephemeral. The moment we formalize a work in a new draft, it is immediately out of date. Statements on websites, even more so.

But in accepting that the putting into form is always imperfect, we unlock our creative potential to improve; to make a better draft; to make something meaningful and of the moment.

More

History

2b was founded in 1999 by Christian Barry, Anthony Black, Andrea Dymond, Zach Fraser, and Angela Gasparetto. Built from a fledgling student start up, the company has gone on to stage 29 original productions, including 26 world premieres. Our work has been presented in 68 cities, 14 countries, and five continents. 2b has won two Herald Angel Awards, an Edinburgh Fringe First, and has been nominated for six Drama Desk Awards. 2b’s shows have been finalists for the Nova Scotia Masterworks Award three times and in 2018, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story became the first theatrical production to win the award.

The Team

Christian Barry

artistic director

Christian Barry is an award-winning director and theatre-maker from Halifax, where he is artistic director of 2b theatre company.

Christian has directed shows that have toured nationally and internationally, including: Red Like Fruit (Traverse Theatre, Soulpepper), Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, National Arts Centre, Sydney Festival), The God that Comes (Edinburgh Fringe, PuSh, Tarragon Theatre, Pittsburgh International Fest, Noorderzon, Aarhus Festival), Revisited (WorldStage, Theaterformen, PuSh), and The Russian Play (Canadian Tour).

Awards include: Two Scotsman Fringe First awards, Herald Angel Award, Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Production, multiple Theatre NS Merritt Awards for Outstanding Direction (many nominations over the years), also for Outstanding New Play, and for Outstanding Lighting Design. Christian won the 2019 NS Masterworks award, and received the 2008 Halifax Mayor’s award for an Emerging Artist. He was nominated for six Drama Desk Awards in NYC. He lost all six.

Jacob Sampson

associate artistic director

Associate Artistic Director of 2b theatre, Jacob Sampson (he/him) is a Graduate of the Acadia University Theatre Studies program and is a descendant of the Historic Black Nova Scotian community of Beechville. Jacob is the playwright of Chasing Champions, which premiered at Ship’s Company Theatre in 2016, a production that won six Robert Merritt Awards including for Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian, Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role (Jacob Sampson as Sam Langford), and Best Production. Jacob was also the winner of the 2020 Merritt Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role for 2b theatre’s production of Shauntay Grant’s The Bridge. Most recently he wrote the play Umoja Corp for Obsidian Theatre’s 21 Black Futures, which premiered on CBC Gem in spring of 2021 and a reflection on the life of William Hall for Nova Scotia's Heritage Day in partnership with the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia and Communities, Culture and Heritage.

Olivia Rankin

general manager

Olivia Rankin is an arts administrator and theatre producer based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Originally from Vernon, BC, Olivia earned her BA in Technical Theatre from Dalhousie University. Over the past decade, she has worked as a stage and production manager across the country. Throughout her career, she has worked with numerous theatre companies, managed world premieres and new works, and has toured award-winning productions both nationally and internationally. In 2022 Olivia received the TNS Merritt Award for stage management. In the same year, she officially joined the 2b theatre team, after previously working with 2b on several productions.
Olivia is thrilled to be stepping into this new role with 2b, and looking forward to growing and bringing her energy into this chapter. As the General Manager of 2b, she is committed to supporting the wellness and future of the company, and to fostering caring, connected spaces for artists and community.

Emma James

administrative and communications coordinator

Emma James (they/them) is an emerging queer neurodivergent theatre artist and arts administrator based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax. Acting (Selected): THE SKELETON DANCE (Ella + Emma); A Sapphic Affair (Maenad's Theatre); Somebody to Love, Back to the East Coast, No Clue, Taylor Made (Grafton Street Dinner Theatre). Directing (Selected): Sappho’s Garden (The Spare Key Collective); Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Dalhousie Theatre Society). Honours: Best Theatre Actor - Silver (The Coast's Best of Halifax); AFBS / Ferne Downey Scholarship in Acting (ACTRA Fraternal Benefits Society); Stephen Graham Bird Award (Theatre New Brunswick). Education: BA Hons. In Theatre - Acting, Certificate in Dance & Movement (Dalhousie University '21); Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership (NSCC ‘23).

Rebecca Desmarais

director of touring

Rebecca is an international tour producer for theatre and on-set teacher for film and television. She has produced and managed over 70 tours across 5 continents with award-winning shows, such as Why Not Theatre’s Prince Hamlet and Mahabharata and 2b theatre company’s Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story. As an on-set teacher, Rebecca has worked on over 20 productions such as HBO’s It:Welcome to Derry, Netflix’s Fubar, Warner Bros.’ Memory of a Killer, and Universal Studios’ The Black Phone 2. Rebecca has a specialized honours degree in Theatre, double minor in Philosophy and Sociology from York University; BEd from University of Toronto; Certificate in Arts and Cultural Management from Grant E. MacEwan University; Master of Fine Arts in Scriptwriting and Story Design, and Intermediate ASL from Toronto Metropolitan University; and is an active member of the Ontario College of Teachers. With deep pride, Rebecca is from rural Northeastern Ontario in Robinson-Huron Treaty 61 on the lands of the Ojibwe and Algonquin Peoples.

Whitney Sallach

development manager

2b theatre company engages consultants from Strategic Arts Management. 2b is represented by Menno Plukker Theatre Agent Inc.

Board of Directors

Katharine Mack (Chair)
Jennifer Hall (Treasurer)
Liesl Mulholland (Director)
Michelle Black (Director)
Lucy Lanni (Outgoing- Chair)

Our Core Values:

  • Theatre is made by, about, and for humans. Its end product is a human to human exchange in real time and shared space. We value and respect all the humans involved in this process: audiences, artists, technicians, administrators, partners, and donors.
  • The work we create lives in the audience’s minds. We value our audiences as intelligent beings with diverse points of view.
  • We recognize that our work can be demanding. Fostering caring and respectful relationships makes our work stronger. We work towards increasing our capacity for care and respect. 
  • We prioritize flexible working approaches that allow collaborators to excel by engaging with the aspects of the work they care most about, within a framework that respects the professional team.
  • We value regular emotional check-ins with staff and artists. 
  • We understand that trust, dedication, and commitment are built over time. 
  • With this foundation, we collectively move through our work with deep commitment, attention, and rigour. 
  • We contribute to the elevation of professionalism in the sector by offering sustainable employment. 
  • We contribute to the diversification of the theatre sector by collaborating with artists and workers from under-represented communities in management and in key creative roles both onstage and offstage. 
  • We value a thriving local theatre community made up of talented, dedicated, and curious individuals who want to grow artistically and we create programs to help foster those characteristics in the community.
  • We seek a healthy relationship with the planet, and our environment
  • We recognize that our position enables and demands us to lead by example.

Professional Artist Development

Each year, 2b hosts one RBC Emerging Artist-in-Residence. They are mentored by 2b’s staff and integrated into the company’s projects and processes. Past RBC Emerging Artists-in-Residence have assistant directed and designed 2b shows and co-produced their own work with 2b’s support. 

2b welcomes applications from writers, directors, performers, designers, and production personnel/ technicians. Candidates will have completed specialized training in their art form (not necessarily in academic institutions) and have less than five years professional experience in theatre. This is a paid position. The open call for the 2025 RBC Emerging Artist-in-Residence will be posted here when it is available.

Past RBC Emerging Artists-in-Residence Anna Shepard and Laura Vingoe-Cram credit: Stoo Metz

This year’s RBC Emerging Artist-in-Residence is Jackson Fairfax-Perry.

Past Emerging Artists

  • Jackson Fairfax-Perry (2023-25)
  • Luciana Silvestre Fernandes & Gloria Mok (2020-22)
  • David Gagnon Walker (2019-20)

  • Anna Shepard (2017-18)

  • Laura Vingoe-Cram (2016-17)

  • Gillian Clark (2015-16)

  • Daniel Oulton (2014-15)

  • Katie Dorian (2013-14)

  • Kristin Slaney (2012-13)

  • Griffin McInnes (2011-12)

  • Simon Bloom (2010-11)

  • Nick Bottomley (2009-10)

2b shares an office space with Live Art Dance, Secret Theatre, and the Halifax Fringe Festival. When we moved in we wanted to populate the space with a vibrant exchanges of ideas. We named the boardroom the Colloquium and began to host public conversations about art-making.

Guidelines

The purpose of the Colloquium is to foster better conversations about art-making. Colloquia can be proposed by anybody in the community but must be hosted by a resident company at 6068 Quinpool Rd.

Values

Respect for other points of view, passion, insatiable curiosity about artistic practice and purpose, and desire for continued artistic evolution.

Propose a Colloquium?

Past Events

  • “So what do we make of that?” – a debrief following the 2014 Magnetic North Theatre Festival
  • Colloquium No.1 – “Overlapping Disciplines” – hosted by Paul Caskey from Live Art with guest artists Peter Trosztmer and Lois Brown
  • Colloquium No.2 -“How did they arrive at that?”- hosted by Anthony Black from 2b theatre company and investigated Thomas Ostermeier’s production of Hamlet 
  • Colloquium No. 3 – “Show and Tell” – hosted by Dustin Harvey from Secret Theatre
  • Colloquium No. 4 – “Theatricality and Directorial Interpretation” – convened by Tessa Mendel from Halifax Theatre for Young People and hosted by 2b
  • Colloquium No. 5 – “There Are No Secrets” – hosted by Dustin Harvey from Secret Theatre with guest artist Adrienne Wong
  • Colloquium No. 6 -“The Kids Are Alright”  – hosted by Gillian Clark from 2b
  • Colloquium No. 7 – “How Do You Say Goodbye?” – hosted by Dustin Harvey from Secret Theatre with guest artist Chad Dembski

  • Colloquium #8 – “The Art of a Digital Encounter” – hosted by Anthony Black from 2b

  • Colloquium  #9 – “Performing and Presenting Psychological Health” – hosted by Lara Lewis from 2b

  • Colloquium #10 – “Chargin’ From the Margins” – convened by DaPoPo Theatre and hosted by 2b

  • Colloquium #11 – “Science and Dance” – convened by Lisa Phinney Langley and Jacinte Armstrong and hosted by Live Art Dance

  • Colloquium #12 – “Memory in Play” – hosted by Laura Vingoe-Cram from 2b

  • Colloquium #13 – “Theatre in the Apocalyptic Age” – convened by Mark Foster and hosted by 2b

  • Colloquium #14 – “Theatre of Escape” – hosted by Julia Schultz from 2b

  • Colloquium #15 – “Artists and the Academy” – hosted by Shauntay Grant from 2b

  • Colloquium #16 – “What is good acting?” – hosted by Anthony Black from 2b

  • Colloquium #17 – “What’s Allowed? Exploring Intimacy in One-to-One Theatre” – hosted by Miranda Bowron from 2b

  • Colloquium #18 – “Triggered: Ethics Surrounding Trauma Onstage” – hosted by Anna Shepard from 2b

  • Colloquium #19 – “Who decides what is good writing?” – convened by Lara Lewis and hosted by 2b

  • Colloquium #20 – “Are we responsible to the truth”? – convened by Annie Valentina and hosted by 2b

  • Colloquium #21 – “How do we make casting more inclusive?” – convened by Rooks-Field Green and hosted by 2b
  • Colloquium #22 – “Revising the Political” – convened by Halifax Fringe and hosted by Carmel Farahbakhsh
  • Colloquium #23 – “Does My Play Need Video?” – hosted by Anthony Black (2b) and Andrew Quick (imitating the dog, UK)
  • Colloquium #24 – “Creating Theatre in a Cross-Canadian Context” – moderated by Elena Eli Belyea and Tori Morrison (Tiny Bear Jaws)
  • Colloquium #25 – “Environmental Awareness in Theatre Production” – hosted by 2b and moderated by Logan Robins (The Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company)
  • Colloquium #26 – “Site-Specific Theatre in Halifax” – hosted by 2b and moderated by Roland Au & Carmen Lee (Theatre du Poulet)
  • Colloquium #27 – “Social Distancing Salon” – hosted by 2b and moderated by David Gagnon Walker & Karen Gross
  • Colloquium #28 – “The Only One in the Room: A BIPOC Experience” – hosted by 2b and moderated by Luciana Fernandez

Student reps are a vital liaison between 2b and the Halifax university community. Responsibilities include coordinating student communications and events, facilitating talkbacks and workshops with professional artists, and promoting 2b and its events and productions on and off campus. Past student reps have gone on to work in theatre professionally, both with 2b and elsewhere.
A call for new student reps goes out in the spring every year.

This season’s student reps are to be determined in the 2024 new year.

Past Student Reps

  • 2023-2024: August Van Meekeren, Ariel Evans, Emma Lamont, and Michael Nixon
  • 2019-20: Ella MacDonald, Christian Ludwig Hansen, and Keely Olstad
  • 2018-19: Andrew Chen, Rooks Field-Green, Logan Robins, Jack Smith, and Qing Wang
  • 2017-18: Miranda Bowron, Ursula Calder, and Jack Smith
  • 2016-17: Kayla Gunn, Lara Lewis, and Julia Schultz
  • 2015-16: Ivy Charles, Lara Lewis, and Julia Schultz
  • 2014-15: Henricus Gielis, Jonathan Brown Gilbert, and Morgan Melnyk
  • 2013-14: Henricus Gielis, Alanna Griffin & Morgan Melnyk, Youth Outreach Coordinator: Karen Gross
  • 2012-13: Gillian Clark, Karen Gross & Laura Vingoe-Cram
  • 2011-12: Kari Bell, Patrick Blenkarn & Bethany Hindmarsh
  • 2010-11: Griffin McInnes & Kari Bell
  • 2009-10: Emily Turner & Simon Bloom
Past Student Reps Ivy Charles, Miranda Bowron, and Lara Lewis. Photo: Stoo Metz

2b presents professional development workshops for the professional artistic community to promote the development of artists in the region.

Recent workshops include:

2018

  • Beyond the Comfort Zone workshops:
    • The Hard Stuff: Playwriting with Juanita Peters
    • Acting on Impulse with Ann-Marie Kerr
    • Fight Combat and Sex Onstage with Richie Wilcox, Karen Bassett, and Lee-Anne Poole

2017

  • Crafting Worlds: A Sounds and Video Design Workshop with Aaron Collier
  • Viewpoints Masterclass with Thomas Morgan-Jones
  • Women’s Work Workshops:
    • Starting from Where We Are: Playwriting with Catherine Banks
    • The Devising Process with Laura Vingoe-Cram
    • Directing with Ann-Marie Kerr

2016

  • Projection Design with Daniel Oulton
  • Open Doors Workshops:
    • Directing with Ann-Marie Kerr and Anthony Black
    • Playwriting with Hannah Moscovitch and Gillian Clark
    • Lighting Design with Johnny Cann

Watch this page or 2b’s social media for upcoming workshops.

2b theatre company would like to acknowledge the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, & Heritage – Cultural & Youth Activities Program for funding past workshops.

Upcoming Workshops

Workshops
February 10, 2020

2b’s winter workshop series

We're holding nine different workshops for students and emerging artists! Our Student Reps have teamed up with nine AMAZING local artists to put together a…
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Highlights and Production History

1999

Our Boy Ben and Etiquette play at the Atlantic Fringe Festival

2003

Cherry Docs tours to 7 cities across Eastern Canada

2007

Revisited heads to Germany for 2b’s first international tour

2010

Invisible Atom wins the Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

2015

When it Rains plays in India, 2b’s first tour to Asia

2018

Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story plays off-Broadway, nominated for 6 Drama Desk awards
See Full Production History