This Season, our Douglas Campbell Theatre tent features two productions with fresh and contemporary (but very different!) approaches to Shakespeare. Whether you’re looking for nonstop, rollicking fun with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] or a romantic and passionate interrogation of love, art, and legacy with The Dark Lady by Jessica B. Hill, there’s something for every Shakespeare fan—or skeptic.

In today’s Bard Blog, we’re excited for you to meet the talented artists who will be joining us under the Douglas Campbell Theatre tent this Season!

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] boasts some of the city’s top comedic talents, with a rotating cast featuring Arghavan Jenati, Nathan Kay, Tess Degenstein, and Craig Erickson.

Each performance will see three unsuspecting performers stumbling upon an unused tent filled with props and set pieces from past Bard productions, before being forced to perform all 37(ish) of Shakespeare’s plays in 90 minutes—or else. What ensues is an irreverent, fast-paced romp through Shakespeare’s histories, tragedies, and comedies that adds a unique Bard twist to this beloved comedy by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield.

Arghavan Jenati will also step into the role of Emilia Bassano—the purported “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets—in Jessica B. Hill’s acclaimed The Dark Lady. A multiracial, trilingual woman who came from a family of musicians, Emilia Bassano was England’s first female published poet, championing the voices and perspectives of women in her proto-feminist volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum. 

The Dark Lady imagines the circumstances that could have set this extraordinary woman on a collision course with a budding young playwright named William Shakespeare, played by Nathan Kay. Unable to escape each other’s orbits, their creative and romantic entanglement will span the course of their lifetimes—and the years beyond—in a sweeping love story that examines art, collaboration, and what it means to leave a legacy. 

Rounding off our Douglas Campbell Theatre Company are the talented Synthia Yusuf and Sebastian Kroon, who will be understudying the roles of Emilia Bassano and William Shakespeare, respectively. 

You won’t have to wait long to see these talented artists on stage this summer!

Our Douglas Campbell Theatre productions run July 1 to September 20, 2025 at Sen̓áḵw/Vanier Park. Get your tickets now by visiting our Season Schedule! 

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