Burning Passions Theatre

03/30/2026

We celebrated World Theatre Day at the CRC Rideau-Rockcliffe CRC with the final two performances of our Seniors Sharing Stories play A Circle Complete. Written by Laurel Smith, and featuring (left to right) Tammy Southin, Joanne Veillette, Deborah Bolton and Bonnie McDougall, with stage management and music design by Matthew Behrens, the run of the show was well attended, featuring powerful post-show audience talkbacks on the challenges and joys facing our community elders.

Special thanks to all who attended and supported this 3-year project, and stay tuned for more exciting projects coming soon!

03/26/2026

Photo from our technical dress rehearsal yesterday for A Circle Complete, the show coming at you today (Thursday) March 26 and tomorrow (Friday March 27, both days at 2 pm and 7 pm) at CRC Rideau-Rockcliffe CRC.

It's so rare that media/entertainment in any context focuses on the lives, hopes, dreams, and challenges faced by seniors, Ottawa's fastest growing demographic and one increasingly enduring poverty due to lack of supports and services, the corrosive effects of ageism, and a society with the wrong priorities.

Written by Laurel Smith, and featuring (left to right) Joanne Veillette, Tammy Southin, Deborah Bolton and Bonnie McDougall,
this new hour-long play with post-show audience talkback is by, about, and performed with Ottawa seniors.

It runs Thursday and Friday in Ottawa at the at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre Drama Room (2nd floor)

Tickets are pay-what-you-can and no one is turned away for lack of funds! Learn more at https://bptheatre.ca/new-play-highlights-challenges-and-joys-of-ottawa-seniors-2/

(Photo by Jean-Denis Labelle; Stage Management by Matthew Behrens)

03/25/2026

It's so rare that media/entertainment in any context focuses on the lives, hopes, dreams, and challenges faced by seniors, Ottawa's fastest growing demographic and one increasingly enduring poverty due to lack of supports and services, the corrosive effects of ageism, and a society with the wrong priorities.

This new hour-long play with audience talkback is by, about, and performed with Ottawa seniors. It runs Thursday and Friday in Ottawa. Tickets are pay-what-you-can and no one is turned away for lack of funds! Learn more at https://bptheatre.ca/new-play-highlights-challenges-and-joys-of-ottawa-seniors-2/

03/21/2026

Please join us this week for a new hour-long play by, about, and performed with Ottawa seniors on March 26 and 27, 2pm and 7 pm, "pay what you can," at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre. Parking is free, and the show is followed by a community talkback with the performers.
Learn more and reserve tickets at https://bptheatre.ca/new-play-highlights-challenges-and-joys-of-ottawa-seniors-2

03/12/2026

Rehearsal photos from A Circle Complete, a new play by Laurel Smith and Burning Passions Theatre's Seniors Sharing Stories troupe, which includes the talents of Deborah Bolton, Tammy Southin, Bonnie McDougall, Lucretia Mott and Joanne Veillette.

You are invited to attend this new hour-long play by, about, and performed with Ottawa seniors on March 26 and 27, 2pm and 7 pm, "pay what you can," at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre. Parking is free, and the show is followed by a community talkback with the performers.
Learn more and reserve tickets at https://bptheatre.ca/new-play-highlights-challenges-and-joys-of-ottawa-seniors-2

03/03/2026

You are invited to attend a new hour-long play by, about, and performed with Ottawa seniors on March 26 and 27, 2pm and 7 pm, "pay what you can," at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre. Parking is free, and the show is followed by a community talkback with the performers.
Learn more and reserve tickets at https://bptheatre.ca/new-play-highlights-challenges-and-joys-of-ottawa-seniors-2/

New Play Highlights Challenges and Joys of Ottawa Seniors Burning Passions Theatre will premiere a new play about the lives of Ottawa seniors with four performances (2 and 7 pm each day) at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre Drama Room on March 26 and 27. A Circle....

02/21/2026

You are invited to attend a new hour-long play by, about, and performed with Ottawa seniors on March 26 and 27, 2pm and 7 pm, at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre, 815 St. Laurent Blvd., 2nd Floor Drama Room, K1K 3A7 . Parking is free, and the show is followed by a community talkback with the performers.

A Circle Complete, written by Burning Passions Theatre Artistic Producer and director Laurel Smith, is the last in a trilogy of works produced by the company’s Seniors Sharing Stories project, an arts in the community training initiative which since 2024 has produced works based on input from and featuring community elders who represent Ottawa’s fastest growing demographic. The play asks universal questions: What happens when our parents are reaching end of life? How do we cope when powerful feelings of love, anger, denial and grief arise? How do we get through it with compassion, and even - dare we say it - a sense of humour and joy?

Tickets are pay what you can (no one turned away for lack of funds). Learn more and reserve tickets at https://bptheatre.ca/new-play-highlights-challenges-and-joys-of-ottawa-seniors-2/

02/17/2026

Burning Passions Theatre invites you to attend a new hour-long play (including a talkback session with the actors after the play) on Thursday March 26 and Friday March 27 at 2 pm and 7 pm. It’s at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre Drama Room, 815 St. Laurent Blvd, 2nd floor. There is free parking on site.

A Circle Complete, written by company Artistic Producer and director Laurel Smith, is the last in a trilogy of works produced by the company’s Seniors Sharing Stories project, an arts in the community training initiative which since 2024 has produced works based on input from community elders who represent Ottawa’s fastest growing demographic.

Tickets to this show, which features senior actors, are "pay what you can" (suggested donation of $10, but no one turned away for lack of funds). Tickets can be reserved at https://2831283.na.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/39751

02/17/2026

Burning Passions Theatre invites you to attend a new hour-long play (including a talkback session with the actors after the play) on Thursday March 26 and Friday March 27 at 2 pm and 7 pm. It’s at the wheelchair accessible Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre Drama Room, 815 St. Laurent Blvd, 2nd floor. There is free parking on site.

A Circle Complete, written by company Artistic Producer and director Laurel Smith, is the last in a trilogy of works produced by the company’s Seniors Sharing Stories project, an arts in the community training initiative which since 2024 has produced works based on input from community elders who represent Ottawa’s fastest growing demographic.

Smith says she was inspired to write the play about a subject that happens to every single person on the planet. “What happens when our parents are reaching end of life?” she asks. “How do we cope when powerful feelings of love, anger, denial and grief arise? How do we get through it with compassion, and even - dare we say it - a sense of humour and joy?”

Tickets to this show, which features senior actors, are "pay what you can" (suggested donation of $10, but no one turned away for lack of funds). Tickets can be reserved at https://2831283.na.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/39751