Festivals

Elizabeth Boardmore One Act Play Festival

Boardmore Theatre gathers yearly for the annual festival of one-act plays. The festival offers the community an opportunity to celebrate live theatre and to share the talents of actors, directors, writers and technicians. In 2004, the festival lost one of its greatest supporters and the Dramagroup one its co-founders, Elizabeth “Liz” Boardmore.

Liz came to Cape Breton with her then husband Harry Boardmore in 1966. Together they developed a thriving live theatre culture on Cape Breton Island. Their earliest works, done under the auspices of Xavier College and produced on the Lyceum stage, won national acclaim and inspired a generation of talented artists to create classics like The Rise and Follies of Cape Breton Island and the Cape Breton Summertime Revue. . From these roots the one-act festival was born in 1971; and in 1990 the CBU Theatre was formally named the Boardmore Playhouse to commemorate the contributions of Harry and Liz.

Reflecting on the work Liz did, despite its scope, and listing her accomplishments, though there were many, seems hollow tribute to the force she was. Liz was the heart of the Dramagroup. Her passion for theatre (which was boundless), her love for her family and friends (whose number remain legion) and her unfailing directness (which was the stuff of which legends are made) found fertile ground at CBU.  As her reputation grew, so to did her commitment to the university, to her colleagues and especially to her students.  As an educator, Liz had no equal. Ready with criticism, which was always well deserved, and even more ready with praise, Liz taught all who studied with her how to think critically, act morally, and live vibrantly.

Under her firm, yet loving guidance, thousands of students and dramagroup members gained the self-confidence needed to strive for the loftiest goals imaginable while never losing faith should success prove elusive. Liz, quoting Beckett, encouraged all with, “No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better.” Liz recognized talent but she respected hard work more. Her legacy to those who follow behind is her personal example. She continues to encourage us to reach for the stars with our feet firmly planted on the earth. The memory of her standing to lead an ovation, the echo of her “Bravo”, and the reflection of her kerchiefed profile backstage will sustain us as her work remains a shining example of everything to which we aspire.

2025 TICKET INFORMATION

Admission Fees

General Admission: $20
Students & Seniors: $10
CBU Students: Free

General Seating for all plays.
Evening shows begin at 7:00pm.

Box Office

The CBU Playhouse Box Office is open from 1:00pm to 5:00pm Monday to Friday and one hour before show time.
The box office will open one week prior to performances and during the week of performances.
Box Office phone no.: 902-563-1652
For more info visit cbu.ca/boardmore

Quicklinks

Quick Links

2025 SCHEDULE OF PLAYS

The Reason
written and directed by Jonathan Lewis
Realizing that they have somehow become ‘the boring couple’ Kat and Leo try to figure out how to bring a little action back into their lives and accidentally end up with the fate of the world in their hands.

The Boys
written and directed by Andrew Tsogo
So different, yet so alike, so strong, yet so vulnerable. Two strangers form an unorthodox  connection, developing feelings they never thought existed. William, the divorcee, and Robert, the mourner, find comfort in each other while dealing with similar suffering.

The Gallery
written and directed by Sarah Munroe
Madigan, a successful sculptor, is preparing for an art show when old friend Hannah arrives unexpectedly at the gallery. Their warm reunion takes a sharp turn when old tensions, and old art, is brought to the forefront.

Springtime
written by Maria Irene Fornes
directed by July Ann Hardy
Springtime is a story of love and betrayal. When Greta becomes sick, Rainbow must find a way to pay for Greta’s treatment. Rainbow’s petty crimes turn to something sinister when she is forced to work for Ray. Greta’s paranoia about Ray grows and threatens to tear her life with Rainbow apart.

Death, or Something Like It
written and directed by Kristian Doucette
Death, or something like it is the third installment in a trilogy of plays by author Kristian Doucette collectively called The Playwright’s Humour. The series can be described as a neo-absurdist comedy exploring concepts of language and theatre. In ‘Death, or Something Like it’, two characters played by the incomparable Josephine Sobol and Cody Chezenko explore their world and its purpose, or lack thereof. Is the action part of a dreamscape? An argument between the left and right brain? Two 9 year olds disseminating their poor understanding of a first year philosophy lecture on a playground? Does it even matter?

Bingo World Championships
written and directed by Daniel Farrow
Competitors from around the world compete in a series of bingo games and other trials to determine who is the best bingo player on the planet. This title also comes with the coveted Golden Bingo Dabber. A trophy so significant that it can only be described as the Stanley Cup of Bingo.

Heirlooms
written by Holly Schaller
directed by Shealyn Varnes
Heirlooms follows the lives of Beatrice and pregnant Birdie, who are newly neighbours and quickly friends, and Birdie’s partner, Tom as they strive for everything they want out of life, or at least what they think they should want. Themes of motherhood, identity, and the intricacies of relationships in everyday life are woven throughout the play.

Moony’s Kids Don’t Cry
written by Tennesse Williams
directed by Emma Francis
At 4 o’clock in the morning, in a tiny apartment on the rough side of town, new parents Moony and Jane have an argument. Tennessee Williams’ short play is about two people who don’t understand each other, trapped in a situation neither wants, and how far they both are willing to go when going through the motions is no longer enough.

Whispers From The Afterlife
written by Wenbo Li
directed by Yufeng AI
One day ,a man named Xie Zhiyuane sacrificed his life while trying to save a fellow scholar who had attempted to drown himself after repeatedly failing the exam. Upon arriving in the underworld, Xie Zhiyuan pleaded with the Lord Yama to allow him to return to the living world to bid farewell to his wife. The Lord Yama agreed but imposed strict conditions—he would have only half a day and could speak no more than 100 words.


Elatyriaf
written by Brittany Fagan Steele
directed by Kate Devoe
Things haven’t been going the way Marley hoped for most of her life — why would one rainy night be any different? When her car crashes at the edge of her grandmother’s old garden she finds not only tangled weeds but the gates to the world of faerie standing open. Will this be the change that Marley has been wishing for? Or will she lose herself in this backwards place where all is not as it may first appear?

The Lotus Lantern
written by WenBo Li
directed by Xiaojing Huang & Jule Ann Hardy
presented by CDCHA
The Lotus Lantern is a cultural epic combining traditional Chinese dance, drama, and martial arts, portraying a tale of family, love, and defiance against fate.
Liu Chenxiang, the son of the Lotus Goddess and a mortal man, learns of his mother’s imprisonment beneath Mount Hua for defying celestial laws. With unwavering determination and the guidance of the legendary Monkey King Sun Wukong, Chenxiang embarks on a courageous journey to rescue his mother. Armed with a divine sword and driven by his filial devotion, he faces formidable challenges and celestial forces along the way.

Medea Redux
written by Neil LaBute
directed by Wayne McKay
 What happens when those charged with protecting and shaping youth shirk that responsibility and betray that trust?  This is one woman’s tragic story of the multi-generational impacts that result.

How These Desperate Men Talk
written by Enda Walsh
directed by Bryan Nash
Two middle-aged men, John and Dave, face each other across a small table. The men are ‘from suburbia’, and they compulsively dissect the details of a childhood memory in search of the truth.

Three Entrances
devised by the DRAM 3106 Acting Class
How does one start? A series of monologues exploring the moment before.

FESTIVAL ADJUDICATOR

Ron Jenkins

Ron Jenkins is a Sydney based freelance director and playwright and former student of CBU.

Selected credits include:

The Woman in Black (SJTC),ELF, Dear Rita, GREASE( SAVOY) Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, The Happy Prince,Silence,GBMM, Spelling Bee, Sucker, Next to Normal (HAT); Playing With Fire (Persephone/Citadel/PTE/ATP); The 39 Steps, Turn of the Screw (Vertigo); Julius Caesar, Richard III, Romeo & Juliet, Othello (TSC); Chasing Champions (Ship’s Theatre Company); High Life (GZT); ENRON (NAC); Métis Mutt (Theatre Network); Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet (Belfry Theatre); 1984 (Saint John Theatre Company); Next to Normal (Theatre Calgary/Citadel); Chicago (Mayfield Dinner Theatre); The Forbidden Phoenix, Extinction Song (Citadel Theatre); The Trespassers (Belfry/Vancouver Playhouse); Bash’d (ZIPPER FACTORY/Off Broadway); Mary’s Wedding, Mesa (Workshop West); Respectable, Confessions of a Paper Boy (Ghost River Theatre); The Black Rider (November Theatre Co.); The Red Priest (Eight Ways to Say Goodbye); The Blue Light (Alberta Theatre Projects); Steel Kiss, Eureka, The Horror, The Horror (Skid).

Ron has won ten Sterling Awards as a director and playwright and two Betty Mitchell Awards for Direction for The Black Rider and Playing With Fire. In 2013 he was honored with a CCA Award in Ottawa for his direction of ENRON. Ron is also the winner of the 2004 Syncrude Award for Artistic Innovation and a Critter Award Winner for Playing with Fire. Ron was shortlisted for the 2007 and 2010 Siminovitch Prize in theatre for Direction.