FACULTY
Jade Douris-O'Hara | Studio Director
Jade Douris (she/her) is a Toronto born-and-raised, Halifax-based actor, Shakespeare coach, choreographer, singer, dancer, and instructor. She is the Studio Director and Resident Artist at Shakespeare by the Sea, where she has spent seven seasons. SBTS: Juliet (Romeo & Juliet), Ophelia (Hamlet), Anna Mae (Cinderelly), Helena/Francis Flute/Cobweb (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz), Biron (Love’s Labour’s Lost, Bianca (Othello), and Tinkerbell (Peter Pan). Other Theatre: Celia in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare BASH’d), Amy in A Different Kind of Job (Theatre Aquarius), and CBC’s According to Kids. Teaching: Halifax Regional Arts All-City Shakespeare, Groove School of Dance, Star Potential Studios, Toronto StageCoach Schools, Upper Canada Repertory Company, and Sean Boutilier Academy of Dance. Choreography: seven seasons at Shakespeare by the Sea, several works for Shakespeare BASH’d, Dauntless City Theatre, and Shakespeare at Play. Awards/Affiliations: Resident Artist of Shakespeare BASH’d, winner of NOW Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Site-Specific Theatre Company in 2018 and 2019. Merritt Award nominations: Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in 2021 (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Outstanding Choreography in 2019 (Alice in Wonderland) and 2021 (A Midsummer Night's Dream). Best Theatre Actor in The Coast's Best of Halifax in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
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Any questions for Jade can be sent to jade@shakespearebythesea.ca
Drew Douris-O'Hara | Artistic Associate of SBTS & Studio Instructor
Drew (he/him) was Shakespeare by the Sea's youngest ever company member at the age of twelve and has been making theatre ever since. Credits include Theatre Aquarius, Neptune Theatre, Driftwood Theatre, Humber River Shakespeare, LiveBait Theatre, OneLight Theatre, Carousel Players, Lost and Found, Upper Canada Repertory Company, and over 30 productions for Shakespeare by the Sea. Drew is a Resident Artist of Toronto’s critically acclaimed Shakespeare BASH’d, for whom he has been an actor, director, producer, script editor and text coach. Drew served as Artistic Director of Toronto’s Everybody to the Theatre Company and co-created the original musical And Now, the End for Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival. Drew was the acting instructor at StageCoach (Toronto East) and the resident Shakespeare teacher for Toronto’s Upper Canada Repertory Company. Drew holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ryerson School of Performance, where he graduated in 2014 and was the inaugural recipient of the Des McAnuff Award for Excellence in Classical Theatre.
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Any questions for Drew can be sent to drew@shakespearebythesea.ca
Shanoa Phillips | Music Teacher & Musical Director
Shanoa Phillips (she/her) is a musical theatre actor from Nova Scotia who started out at a very young age at the local Unicorn Theatre. Having discovered a passion for musical theatre in her youth, she attended the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts after high school where she studied voice, dance and acting. She then completed her degree in Music at Acadia University where she studied vocal performance, and completed her Level 8 RCM certification in piano.
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You may have seen Shanoa onstage as a member of Shakespeare by the Sea's professional acting company is such roles as Wendy in Peter Pan, the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, Moth in Love's Labour's Lost, or in one of the Unrehearsed Dream events.
Shanoa has always enjoyed teaching music to children and has over 10 years experience teaching in the arts! Having both performing and teaching experience in many musical styles (classical, musical theatre, pop, folk, etc.), Shanoa is excited to embark on each individual student's musical journey.
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You can book Shanoa for singing lessons and music lessons in person at the Park Place Theatre or via Zoom.
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Michelle Raine | Instructor
Michelle Raine (she/her) is a theatre nerd, an inquisitive academic, a connoisseur of creativity, and a lifelong “tryer of new things”. Michelle joins Shakespeare by The Sea equipped with training in voice and movement skills acquired while at the Dalhousie Fountain School of Performing Arts and enhanced by her work with experienced mentors. Michelle intends to pass on useful industry skills while focusing on individual student growth. When she isn’t teaching at Shakespeare by the Sea, she is attending the Bachelor of Education program at Mount Saint Vincent University, participating in personal creative projects, and searching for something new to learn.
Michelle has collaborated on a number of projects including, PEACE PROJECT, with the Canadian Cancer Society and Transitus Creative, Boys, Girls, and Other Mythological Creatures by Mark Crawford, and more. Michelle has also written a show with Alexis Milligan called It’s A Girl!, a show about Michelle’s personal relationship with gender identity and what it means to be “different” in our society. It’s a Girl! has toured schools with Theatre New Brunswick, it has been included in local festivals, and she was fortunate to bring the show to the 2018 Prague International Fringe Festival. Michelle is excited to be working with a team of talented students, performers, and educators at Shakespeare By the Sea.
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Jacob Sampson | Instructor
Jacob Sampson (he/him) is a Graduate of the Acadia University Theatre Studies program and is a descendant of this Historic Black Nova Scotian community of Beechville. He has done many seasons with Shakespeare by the Sea, playing such roles as Othello, Oberon and Aaron.
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Jacob is the playwright of Chasing Champions, which premiered at Ship's Company Theatre in 2016, a production that won the Merritt Awards for Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian, Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role (Jacob Sampson as Sam Langford), and Best Production. He also travelled with the show to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Jacob was also the winner of the 2020 Merritt Award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role for The Bridge. He was most recently involved in Obsidian Theatre's 21 Black Futures which premiered on CBC Gem in spring of 2021. Jacob is a Faculty Member at the Bedford Academy, and football coach for Lockview High School and The Halifax Xplosion Women's Tackle Football Team.
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Henricus Gielis | Director & Instructor of Improv Troupe Program
Henricus Gielis (he/him) is an actor, improviser, teacher and creator based in Kjipuktuk / Halifax, Nova Scotia. He regularly creates and performs with the award-winning improv troupe Hello City! and his solo show King of the Goats won the "Fringiest Fringe show" award in the 2019 Halifax Fringe.
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