Our first performances of the 2025 Season begin this week, and we’re so excited for you to discover what we have on stage this summer!
You may remember Tess Degenstein from her hilarious roles in last Season’s The Comedy of Errors and Measure for Measure, and we’re delighted to have her back this summer as Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and as part of the ensemble in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again].
With Previews for The Two Gentlemen of Verona starting this week—and tickets for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] selling fast—we took the time to chat with Tess about her journey with Bard and what you can expect from these two fresh and unconventional takes on Shakespeare.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got into acting?
I’m an actor/writer/improviser originally from Regina, SK. I saw a community theatre production of Oliver! when I was four or five and apparently, I turned to my mom and said, “I want to do what they’re doing!” And she very kindly obliged, enrolling me in drama and then in a company called Do It With Class Young People’s Theatre (shoutout Rob and Andorlie!). Turns out my lifelong best friend was also in that production of Oliver! Huge moment for me, seeing Oliver! at four.
As someone with so much experience in improv, what has it been like to jump into a show like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]?
It’s been pure pleasure! Mark [Chavez] leads a great room and I love the ensemble; the vibe in the room is all joy and playfulness. I’m sure from the outside it looks like we’re not working at all, but weirdly that’s the job: to play tirelessly, to be open and responsive, inventive and specific. To find which jokes are loose, and which require a very repeatable rhythm to land. And it’ll be a whole different experience once the audience is in too, and we have their responses (hopefully side-splitting peals of laughter vs. deafening silence, for example!!). Plus, we have hand puppets.
In contrast, you also play Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona in your BMO Mainstage debut with Bard! How has that experience been for you?
It’s been lovely. Rep is such a relief because when I’m stuck with one piece, I can let it simmer in my subconscious while I work on the other. Often, I find I’ll come back to it and whatever kink I was feeling has worked itself out. You don’t get that when you’re only working on one show—you have to kind of stare at that material all the time, which doesn’t let the subconscious creep in with its own wisdom. Is that too heady?!
What are you most excited for audiences to experience with these two productions?
They’re both loads of fun, with great music buoying the material, including original songs by genius Anton Lipovetsky in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]. [When we moved to site] it brought to mind too that there’s this added thing that happens with these plays when they’re performed outside—not only are you doing the play, you’re engaging with this centuries-old tradition of saying poetry outside, and I think that’s such a wonderful thing to experience. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] is both participating in—and subverting—that tradition, whereas The Two Gentlemen of Verona is more straightforwardly engaging with it. In the rehearsal hall it can feel a bit like “why are they talking like this,” but I find as soon as I’m outside, looking at the ocean and the trees and the mountains, casual language just won’t do. It calls for poetry.
Do you have a favourite memory from the workshop/rehearsal process this year or from last Season at Bard?
There was a moment last year swimming on a break where a couple of other actors and I were trying to figure out a scene and simultaneously trying to touch bottom in the water. It’s not lost on me how special, strange, and rare my workplace is.
When you aren’t in rehearsal or performing, how do you like to spend your time?
I like to read. I like to read in the tub. I like to read outside. And I’m a year-round cyclist so if I’m not on my bike, I’m dealing with the rust on my bike. I also love restaurants.
Thanks so much for chatting with us, Tess!
Be sure to catch Tess this summer in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]! Get your tickets now by visiting our Season Schedule. Plus, save $10 instantly on all Preview dates! Excludes C zone tickets.