We are delighted to announce that 5 out of the 8 actors cast in our 2020 summer season are from PEI. Joining the already announced Gracie Finley on stage this summer will be fellow Islanders Rebecca Parent, Justin Shaw, Kassinda Bulger, and Devin MacKinnon. “I hold general auditions on the Island every December”, says Artistic Director Robert Tsonos, “every year I try to cast as many local actors as possible but this year I was thrilled to find so many Islanders that fit the parts I was looking for”. Joining the slate of PEI actors will be Wally MacKinnon from Nova Scotia, as well as Jonathan Ho and Jonathan Widdifield, both based in Toronto. All the actors will be performing in “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie and “The Trip to Bountiful” by Horton Foote all summer long as well as participating in The Play Reading Series and teaching acting workshops in the Teenage Acting Conservatory.
Rebecca Parent (from Stratford / Charlottetown) returns for her seventh season at the Watermark. Previous credits at the theatre include: Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalion”, Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”, Marianne Dashwood in “Sense and Sensibility”, and Laura Cheveley in “An Ideal Husband”. She was also the co-creator of “What to Wear to the Birth of a Nation”, a play commissioned for the 2014 Charlottetown Celebrations. Islanders know Rebecca well from playing Anne Shirley in the musical “Anne and Gilbert” at the Guild in Charlottetown.
Justin Shaw (from Cardigan) is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s Acting Program, and a past performer in the University of Prince Edward Island’s Vagabond Productions. Island audiences may remember Justin from “Salt-Water Moon” (The Guild Summer Festival 2019), Lorne Elliott’s “Culture Shock” (Harmony House Theatre), “The Wrestling Play” (Island Fringe 2017-Patron’s Pick Award), and in Popalopalots Live Improv Comedy. As a comedian, Shaw has performed across Canada, has opened for Mike MacDonald, and won the 2016 Comedyworks Triple Crown Award.
Kassinda Bulger (from O’Leary) is excited to make her professional theatrical debut with the Watermark. After completing her Minor in Theatre Studies at UPEI, she spent some time at both George Brown Theatre School and Holland College’s School of Performing Arts. Past credits include: Claire from “While We’re Young”, Juliet from “Romeo and Juliet”, Jean from “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” (UPEI Vagabond Productions), “Naivety in Nutshell” (The Fantastic Space- A Theatre Company), “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare – Abridged” (The King’s Playhouse), and “Meanwhile in Ward 16: A Charlottetown Soap Opera” (The Guild).
Devin MacKinnon (from Charlottetown / Hunter River) attained a BA from UPEI before he began studying acting at The National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, graduating in 2015. Select credits include: “A Christmas Carol” (Theatre Calgary), “The Tempest” (The Shakespeare Company), “Liberation Days”, “The Mary Celeste”, “Nothing Less!”, “Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Robert Merritt Award Nomination), “In This Light”, “Frankenstein”, “The Ruins” (Two Planks and A Passion) “The Comedy of Errors”, “Paradise Lost” (Stratford Festival), and “Crime Does Not Pay” (Betty Mitchell Award Nomination – Downstage)”.
Wally MacKinnon is an award-winning actor, director and teacher. In his 30+ year career, he has performed in theatre productions across Canada including the very first season of the Watermark in 2008, “Village Wooing” and “The Importance of Being Ernest”. Other credits include: “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “The Hobbit” (Theatre New Brunswick), “Ben Hur”, “Goodnight Bird” (Festival Antigonish), Merritt Award winning play “KAMP”, “Flying on Her Own” (EFT/Neptune, NS), “Jacob’s Wake”, “Miles From Home”, “The Diligent River Daughter” (Ships Company Theatre, NS), “The Foursome”, “Who’s Under Where” (CPT Alberta), “Gaslight Follies” (Palace Grand Theatre, Dawson City), and “Birds and the Bees” (Miracle Theatre, BC).
Jonathan Ho made his professional theatre debut as Mike Chang in “The New Canadian Curling Club” (Alberta Theatre Projects) last year, reprising the role in Theatre Orangeville’s production earlier this year. In the realm of film and television, he is most known for his role as Brother Zachariah on “Shadowhunters” (Freeform), and has also appeared on “Suits” (USA), “The Romanoffs” (Amazon), and “Murdoch Mysteries” (CBC).
This summer will be Jonathan Widdifield’s fourth season at the Watermark having appeared in “An Ideal Husband”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Rainmaker”, “The Lion in Winter”, and “The Shore Field”. Recent credits include: “Cloud” (Scapegoat Theatre Collective). Damian/TheDevil in “Chasse-Galerie” (Red One Theatre Collective & The Storefront Theatre – Dora Award for Best Ensemble). Three seasons with The Shaw Festival: “Doctor’s Dilemma”, “The Devil’s Disciple”, “John Bull’s Other Island”, and “Born Yesterday”. Five seasons with the Classical Theatre Project: Hamlet in “Hamlet”, Mercutio in “Romeo and Juliet” (Dora Nominated for Best Performance in TYA). Danny in “Danny, King of the Basement” (Roseneath Theatre), and “Haunted” (Summerworks Festival).
