WORLD PREMIERE: MARCH 28, 2025
CULTCH HISTORIC THEATRE
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY NIALL MCNEIL
Produced by: Niall McNeil Productions
Key Creative Collaboration and
Choreography: Billy Marchenski
Performers & Collaborators: Billy
Marchenski, Sophia Mai Wolfe, Kate
Franklin, Peter Anderson, Elizabeth Barrett
Director Mentor: Debbie Patterson
Composer: Veda Hille
Lighting Designer: Itai Erdal
Costume Designer: Christine Reimer
Sound Designer: Mishelle Cuttler
Set & Props Designer, Technical
Director: Paula Viitanen Aldazosa
Pre-Show Projection Design:
Candelario Andrade
Dramaturge: Michele Valiquette
Production Manager: Jessica Han
Stage Manager: Jillian Perry
Surtitles Designer and Audio Describer:
Anika Vervecken
Producers: Joan McNeil, Brian Postalian,
John Dippong
Public Funders: Canada Council for the
Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver.
Niall McNeil Productions
Artistic Director: Niall McNeil
Manager & Creative Director: Joan McNeil
Producer: John Dippong
MY LIFE
Part fantasy, part reality, with huge dollops of whimsy, Niall McNeil’s BBML (Beauty and The Beast: My Life) transports audiences into a vibrant realm that references Disney and Cocteau but charts its own unique narrative path through Niall’s experiences and multi-faceted art practice.
“Talk about innovation. Talk about risk. Talk about reward. Talk about Niall McNeil’s Beauty and the Beast: My Life. …All theatre is collaborative, but this collaboration is particularly exciting: so many high-powered artists coming together to realize the vision of another high-powered artist who’s sharing an aspect of human experience we seldom see on the stage... I encourage you to see Beauty and the Beast: My Life. You will be lucky to encounter this artist”. “BBML is experimenting with paintings that I’ve designed with handles so people can dance with them. My original idea is to let the performers work in my different new way. It’s my first time being a director. My purpose is to make my own art.”
- COLIN THOMAS/FRESH SHEET
Niall McNeil identifies as a practising multidisciplinary artist with Down Syndrome. Beauty and the Beast: My Life marks Niall’s directorial debut, in addition to creating the story and visual art in the play. Niall has assembled an incredible team of collaborators and performers who have come together to centre his unique approach to art-making.
“BBML is experimenting with paintings that I’ve designed with handles so people can dance with them. My original idea is to let the performers work in my different new way. It’s my first time being a director. My purpose is to make my own art.”
- NIALL MCNEIL
TOURING INFORMATION
Running time 90 mins w/ one intermission
6 hours of setup, 4 hours of cueing/ levels/ tech, and 4 hours of rehearsal with 2 crew before the first performance
Stage
Ideal Stage Area: 35' wide x 30' deep (10.5m x 9m) Minimum Stage Area: 30' wide x 25' deep (9m x 8m) Trim height: 15' (4.5m) Full black masking with wings and upstage cross over.
Lighting (by Itai Erdal)
DMX controlled system with minimum 45 lighting instruments/ circuits (negotiable).
NIALL MCNEIL
CREATOR, DIRECTOR, PERFORMER
Director Niall McNeil is an artist living with Down Syndrome who has been involved with theatre from an early age through his lifelong association with the Caravan Farm Theatre. Niall was an ensemble member of Vancouver’s Leaky Heaven Theatre 1999-2006, under the direction of Steven Hill. In 2010, Niall performed in A Christmas Carol as a member of the English Acting Company of the National Arts Centre, Director Peter Hinton. Niall and Marcus Youssef have co-written two Jessie Richardson Theatre Award winning plays together, Peter Panties (2011) (Leaky Heaven/Neworld Theatre) and King Arthur’s Night (2017) (Neworld Theatre). In 2018, Niall was awarded a Certificate of Honor from Studio 58 acting school in Vancouver. Niall acted in Director Marie Clements’ 2012 short film, Pilgrims (TIFF 2012). In 2022, Niall partnered with Marie again as creative collaborator and subject of her NFB documentary Lay Down Your Heart (VIFF 2022). Niall directed his first documentary film The Originals, about the founding members of the Caravan Stage Company and Farm Theatre, which premiered at the 2024 DOXA Film Festival. Beauty and the Beast: My Life is Niall’s first time as Writer and Director of a new play. BBML had a triumphant premiere at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre’s Historic Theatre in 2025.
Niall McNeil Productions supports the development of Artistic Director Niall McNeils work, centering Niall’s creative vision and process of making art.
.jpg)
BBML is a celebration of movement and the power of imagination, combining Niall’s dialogue, lyrics and paintings, with the performers swirling through space and time, to a seriously catchy musical score by Veda Hille, that’s sure to challenge your perceptions and delight audiences of all ages. This is a highly original interdisciplinary performance, the likes of which you’re unlikely to experience on stage again any time soon.
“Here is a trailblazing artist who has taken life as it was handed to him and forged a career in theatre, the visual arts, film and now as a director…to say this Beauty and the Beast is like no other you’ve ever seen is an understatement…McNeil opens a window on his world and his thought processes.. I saw it. I embraced it. I found the poetry”.
- JO LEDINGHAM:
THEATRE REVIEWS ON THE SCENE
A note about the language of the play. This play is written by Niall McNeil. As a man who is experiencing hearing loss, Niall is learning ASL. This is his first work in which he incorporates signs from ASL into the language of the play. He uses both spoken English and ASL in ways that are intuitive and deeply personal. We invite audiences to embrace his distinctive ways of expressing himself and find the poetry within it.
BBML has been designed with accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing community, with descriptive, live captioning offered at each performance.
Tour Producer: JASON DUBOIS | jason@newworks.ca | 778.533.3172
Manager & Creative Producer: JOAN MCNEIL | joanmcneil17@gmail.com
Producer, Niall McNeil Productions: JOHN DIPPONG | jdippong@gmail.com
TRAILER NIALLMCNEIL.COM