Nova Scotia is a province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime provinces.
Canada's contemporary theatre reflects a rich diversity of regional and cultural identities. Since the late 1960s, there has been a concerted effort to develop the voice of the 'Canadian playwright', which is reflected in the nationally focused programming of many of the country's theatres. Within this 'Canadian voice' are a plurality of perspectives - that of the First Nations, new immigrants, French Canadians, sexual minorities, etc. - and a multitude of theatre companies have been created to specifically service and support these voices.
Portia May White was a Canadian contralto, known for becoming the first Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame. Growing up as part of her father's church choir in Halifax, Nova Scotia, White competed in local singing competitions as a teenager and later trained at the Halifax Conservatory of Music. In 1941 and 1944, she made her national and international debuts as a singer, receiving critical acclaim for her performances of both classical European music and African-American spirituals. White later completed tours throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director, and film director. He is probably best known for his acting roles in independent films and the sitcom Twitch City.
Mark Farrell is a Canadian comedian and writer, who honed his talent in the Yuk Yuk's comedy club in Halifax, Nova Scotia before moving to Toronto in 1989. In 1992, Farrell helped lead an exodus from the Yuk Yuk's chain, along with other prominent comics such as Brent Butt. After appearing in CBC's Comics! as well as CTV's Comedy Now!, as well as NBC's Friday Night Videos, he was cast in two Ken Finkleman series, Married Life and the first season of The Newsroom.
Viola Irene Desmond was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.
Yuk Yuk's is a national comedy club chain in Canada, founded by former stand-up comedian Mark Breslin and established in 1976 by Breslin and long-time friend Joel Axler. The company is currently run by Breslin and his long-time partner and president Jeff Silverman. The head office is located in downtown Toronto. Currently there are nine Yuk Yuk's Comedy Clubs in five provinces across Canada.
Mark Thomas Little is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his appearances on the CBC Television sitcom Mr. D, playing Simon Hunt, the Xavier Academy science teacher, and his work with Picnicface.
Renee Percy is a Canadian actress, writer, and comedian. Percy is best known for her work on the sketch comedy shows Air Farce Live and CTV/Comedy Network's Comedy Inc, and for her Comedy Now! Special "Women of the Night II". Appearing in numerous national television commercials her most notable role is her Canadian Comedy Awards winning viral video "Sure Lock: A True Poo Story".
Ronald Pederson is a Canadian, Métis actor, comedian and theatre director who has worked extensively throughout Canada and in the United States. He has performed at most of Canada's major theatres including The Stratford Festival, The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Citadel Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Arts Club, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Young Centre, The Canadian Stage Company, The Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Soulpepper and The SummerWorks Festival. Pederson is an alumnus of Toronto’s The Second City and has also worked extensively in television and may be best known for his Canadian Comedy Award-nominated work and his three seasons on Fox Television's MADtv.
Michael Bawtree is a Canadian actor, director, author and educator.
Ben Caplan is a Canadian folk musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He often performs with his band The Casual Smokers, and his first full-length studio album, In the Time of the Great Remembering, was released on October 20, 2011. His second record, Birds With Broken Wings, was released September 18, 2015. His third album, Old Stock, was released on June 15, 2018, and his fourth album, recollection (reimagined), was released on October 15, 2021.
Mary Vingoe is a Canadian playwright, actress, and theatre director. Vingoe was one of the co-founders of Canadian feminist theatre company Nightwood Theatre and later co-founded Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax. From 2002 to 2007, Vingoe was artistic director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Vingoe is an Officer of the Order of Canada and received the Portia White Prize. Her play Refuge was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2016 Governor General's Awards.
2b theatre company, stylized as the 2b theatre company, is a theatre company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Portia White: First You Dream is a two-act musical play written by Lance Woolaver. It is based on the life of singer Portia White. Born in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1911, and part of a large family, White sang in the choir at her father's church as a child, won several singing competitions, and in 1944 began touring Canada, the United States, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The music consists of spiritual and classical pieces, all in the public domain.
The 15th Canadian Comedy Awards, presented by the Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence (CCFE), honoured the best live, television, film, and Internet comedy of 2013. The awards ceremony was hosted by Tom Green and held at the Ottawa Little Theatre on 14 September 2014.
Gordon Stobbe C.M is a Canadian fiddler, multi-instrumentalist, and composer based in Seaforth, Nova Scotia. Stobbe was born in Saskatchewan, but has made his home on the East Coast of Canada since 1977. His musical interests and passion lie in the field of Canadian traditional music, especially as it is expressed in a wide variety of fiddle styles. He plays several instruments, including fiddle, mandolin, guitar, clawhammer banjo, piano, accordion and percussion.
Taylor Olson is a Canadian actor, writer and filmmaker from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is best known as the director, writer and lead actor of the 2020 film Bone Cage, for which he was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards.
Joe Cobden is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He started performing at age 10 as a street vaudevillian, touring festivals worldwide. In 1996, at age 17, Cobden enrolled at Concordia University's Theatre Performance Programme, in Montreal.
