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Jen Barson

 

Jen's passion for theatre was born in high school where she first performed as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. It laid dormant until 2009 where she reignited this passion and hasn't looked back since. She is an award-winning actor and producer, earning best actress awards playing Ruth in Calendar Girls, Fruma Sarah in Fiddler On The Roof, and Bananas Shaughnessy in House of Blue Leaves, and best production awards for House of Blue Leaves, Noises Off and The Drowsy Chaperone.

 

Some of her most memorable acting credits include Shirley in the one-woman show Shirley Valentine (4th Wall Productions), Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia (RCMPI), Agnes White in Bug (DTP) and Stevie Gray in The Goat (DTP) where she got to smash a ton of glass on stage and be a part of one of the most shocking endings of any play.

 

After a play reading of 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, Jen knew it had to be her directorial debut for The Downtown Theatre Project. After a successful sold out run (with an extra show added), Jen was itching to direct again and brought to the DTP stage another sold out run, Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties.

 

In 2005, Jen created the Guelph Film Office with the dual purpose of attracting productions to Guelph and to provide opportunities for local skill development in the film sector. Her efforts were successful in attracting Dream House (2011) and Blindness (2008) as well as numerous made-for-tv films and commercials to Guelph.

 

Outside of theatre, Jen works in fundraising as an Account Executive and Project Manager, where she helps to raise funds for charities. She runs a weekly trivia night with Paul, her partner in the theatre and in life where they happily live in Guelph with their four children.

 

Jen’s roles include:

  • Blood Brothers (RCMPI) - Mrs Lyons

  • Assassins (Georgetown Globe) - Sara Jane Moore

  • To Kill a Mockingbird (Guelph Little Theatre) - Miss Stephanie

  • Wreck on the Five Twenty-Five (Guelph Little Theatre) - Mrs. Hawkins

  • The Glass Menagerie (Guelph Little Theatre) - Amanda Wingfield

  • Kiss The Moon, Kiss the Sun (Guelph Little Theatre) - Producer

  • Serra (Short Film) - Serra

  • Singing in the Rain (RCMPI) - Ensemble

  • Calendar Girls (Guelph Little Theatre) - Ruth

  • Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat (RCMPI) - Ensemble

  • Skin Flick (Guelph Little Theatre) - JIll

  • Scrooge The Musical (RCMPI) - Ensemble

  • Noises Off! (Guelph Little Theatre) - Poppy Norton-Taylor, Producer

  • HMS Pinafore (Guelph Little Theatre/RCMPI) - Aunt, Producer

  • Fiddler On The Roof (RCMPI) - Fruma Sarah

  • Shirley Valentine (4th Wall Productions) - Shirley Valentine

  • At The Crossroads (Crossroads Productions) - Ellen Lockheart

  • Suspicious Minds (Tim Clarke Productions) - Tammy Mae Driver

  • Cash for Christmas: Live from Folsom Prison! (Tim Clarke Productions) - June Carter Cash

  • The Drowsy Chaperone (Guelph Little Theatre) - Producer

  • The Gondoliers (Guelph Little Theatre) - Producer

  • A Very Merry (Scary) Adult Contemporary Christmas (Tim Clarke Productions) - Celine Dion

  • House Of Blue Leaves (Guelph Little Theatre) - Bananas Shaughnessy, Producer

  • Rumours (Tim Clarke Productions) - Christine McVie

  • All New People (DTP) - Producer

  • 27 Club (Tim Clarke Productions) - Janis Joplin

  • Bug (DTP) - Agnes White, Producer

  • God Of Carnage (DTP) - Producer

  • 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche (DTP) - Director, Producer

  • S.O.S. An ABBA Murder Mystery (Tim Clarke Productions) - Anni-Frid ‘Frida’ Lyngstad

  • The Other Place (DTP) - Producer

  • The Goat (DTP) - Stevie Gray, Producer

  • An Act Of God (DTP) - Producer

  • Mamma Mia (RCMPI) - Donna Sheridan

  • Collective Rage: A Play In 5 Betties (DTP) - Director, Producer

  • All Together Now - Cast, Multiple Roles

  • The Last Five Years (in production) (DTP) - Producer

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