28 May Interview with Celine Stubel, Adjudicator for the 2026 One Act Play Festival

We were honoured to catch up with this year’s adjudicator for the 2026 One Act Play Festival, Celine Stubel! Celine has worked as a theatre actress across Canada for more than 24 years, building a career that spans new Canadian works, American classics, and Shakespeare. 

In this interview, we talked about her early influences, her philosophies, and the excitement of taking on the adjudicator role.

Thank you so much for meeting with me today! I’d like to start with your beginnings. When did you first fall in love with theatre and acting, and what were some profound experiences you had?

I am lucky that I grew up with the opportunity of being immersed in the performing arts, and was surrounded by strong role models. I come from a large family, with parents who encouraged each of us to do what we loved, and I grew up watching my two older sisters perform constantly. I went to all their dance shows, their plays in University, and have many vivid memories of the theatrical and artistic happenings they, along with my two brothers, would cook up at home on any given weekend. This was my early introduction to being an artist, and it went hand in hand with an incredible sense of joy and love. 

When I was very young, I remember seeing a Fringe show with the amazing clown performer, Karen Hines, in her play “Poxy’s Lips.” She played a terminally ill woman who was connected to her hospital bed the entire time by her IV.  She’s a beautifully physical performer and throughout the whole performance, she was climbing in and on and around her bed, but she never left it. She spoke to God (and us) the entire time. What I think spoke to me then, and still speaks to me now, was just how much theatre can allow us to key into something that’s bigger than we are.

I don’t have a specific name for it, but there’s something intangible there that’s available for you to access and tap into. As an actor, even on days when I feel like maybe I don’t know what’s going to happen, or I feel like maybe I’m not going to be able to access the depths or the emotions or clarity that I want to, in my experience, I’ve always found that if I trust, and step forward, something will open up and take care of me. 

Even now, my favourite thing about theatre is that it invites a group of strangers to gather together to share a communal focus. For me it’s akin to the feeling I had as a child when we went to church. It wasn’t necessarily about the specifics of what was being said, it was the feeling of a group of strangers gathering together in this same way, sharing a focus. And I think there’s so much power in that.

And building off of these experiences, when you are reflections on your recent work like with  the Lehman Trilogy, or Casey and Diana, and then compared to some of your earlier work, even at UVic? I’m curious, sort of what milestones are kind of memorable to you? 

It’s not an easy thing to carve out the time or to have the lifestyle to do this. So I think having the ability and the privilege to do it at all is a milestone in itself. 

But standout experiences have often been ones where I knew or got to interact with the playwright. It gave me a greater sense of responsibility in doing my best to communicate their message. Knowing their voice can also inform sections of the text you may be having trouble with because you can imagine the words coming from them. You might be more familiar with their thought patterns too, so all of that is extremely beneficial. Casey and Diana was one of these, as I knew the playwright back from my UVic days. It was remarkable to see what Nick Green created. Also, the play Legoland which we toured on and off for over 8 years, a play by local playwright (and my brother-in-law Jacob Richmond) was another one of these. I knew how close the subject matter was to his heart and I wanted to do it justice. The Lehman Trilogy was certainly another standout but for a different reason. What I find remarkable about that process was how, in spite of it being such a massive story and massive event to do each night, the methodical approach to the text that Michael Shamata, our director, led us with made it manageable. The thing about a really good script, is when you’re in doubt, the answer is always there for you in the text. Another highlight was also touring Studies in Motion with the Electric Company. I’d been such a big fan of their work for so long. The show was epic in its physicality, its tech, and it was thrilling to get to be on the inside of that. My favourite performance  experiences are ones where I feel that I’m using my whole self – voice, body, and mind, and that was one of those.

You’ve had the privilege of acting in a wide variety of projects all over Canada. I was curious what you can speak to in terms of the theatre culture in Victoria?

Well, I’m born and raised in Victoria. Something that I still find surprising about this city is how you can be doing something so similar to other people, and you still may never really cross paths. I find that the people who choose to live here like having the option to lay low. So sometimes there’s a bit of coaxing needed to draw people out – both as performers and audience members!  I also think that the people who are choosing to live here versus a bigger centre are doing so because it offers a certain quality of life. That translates to a general sense of ease and well-being that I think can set up an artist so well. You’re free then to operate and create from a place of contentment and generosity. From an audience perspective, for a city of our size, I think we’re extremely fortunate to have a little bit of everything – from theatre to opera, to ballet, improv and cabaret. The calibre of work that happens here is on par with anything I’ve seen across the country. 

You have taken on the role as the adjudicator for 2026, which some participants might hear and feel intimidated. How do you see that role? How are you looking at these pieces? Are you a critic? Are you a mentor? Are you a collaborator? Just a fresh set of eyes? Where do you see yourself in that role?

I would say that taking on the role of adjudicator is equally intimidating for me. But intimidating can also mean exciting and so I’m very much looking forward to it. For any participant, I would want them to know and feel I’m on the inside with them. I have so much admiration and respect for the process from start to finish.  I’m an excited, empathetic and curious set of eyes, excited to discuss it with them from the inside out, and see what we can learn from this together.

And what are you, in your role, hoping to get out of it? And then for the audience, what do you hope the audience is going to get out of each piece that they come to see?

First off, I think it takes a brave soul to put pen to paper. I think this event celebrates and fosters that.  It shines a light on local stories and voices from our community. It’s interesting and fun to gain a window into what other people around you are pondering. I’m excited for the sense of community, the showing up and showing support, and celebrating creation and risk taking! As far as what I hope to take away, I hope to be able to translate some of my own experience into useful feedback and to connect with more like minded people. I’m excited to meet people in our community who I may have crossed paths with peripherally, but haven’t really gotten to connect with. And I’m so excited and so grateful for the opportunity to offer my perspective.

What do you find the most thrilling or the most inspiring, those could be two different things, about live theatre? This could be either as an audience member watching it, or as a performer as well.

Well, I’m inspired and fascinated by process and by genuine experience. I’m endlessly fascinated with that moment where you watch a co-actor waiting in the wings, and then their cue comes, and then they make their entrance. I could watch that all day, everyday. I’m so curious about what that process is like for each performer, because it’s so unique to each person. And performing means something so different to everyone. Whenever I’ve worked with young artists, I always encourage them to ask themselves why they want to do what they’re doing. Whatever the reason is, crystalizing that thought and operating clearly from that place can be extremely galvanizing. 

As an audience member I’m always inspired and most excited about when I witness someone having a genuine experience onstage. It’s those special moments where you feel like somebody isn’t acting, but they’re just being. That’s a real privilege to get to see. I’m hoping to see some of those moments. I’m hoping to see people just trusting in the process, in each other, being present, and giving over. Maybe they’ll even feel new things that they didn’t plan on feeling – but because they’re so present, it’s taking them on a ride somewhere. There’s also a really  beautiful thing that happens when you’re part of an audience. It’s that you kind of take on a communal persona together. I love to be a part of things on that side too. 

I’m wondering if there have been any performances or projects you’ve seen or been a part of recently that has excited you?

A recent show going experience that I really loved was Big Stuff at the Belfry. Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram are such highly skilled improvisers. I think one of the reasons that the show spoke to me was that it was just chock full of countless genuine moments. Just to see the bravery that improvisers have is so mind boggling and it’s so admirable – that idea of putting yourself out there and taking whatever is given to you and just rolling with it – you can feel how thrilled and delighted the audience is to get to witness that first hand.

This is our last question. You are on night 4 of a 6 evening run of a show. You’ve just left the theatre and you are exhausted. The only places open to grab a refreshment are gas stations, Circle K sort of places. You are asked to grab a drink, something salty, and something sweet.

I’m going to go with the Snickers because you’ve got the salty and the sweet mixed together in a delicious chewy combination. For my drink, I’m going to choose a sensible adult choice of coconut water for the electrolytes, especially important when you’re running a show!