Bear & Co. roared onto the Ottawa theatre scene in June 2012 with a production of John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore at the Ottawa Fringe Festival. Since then, Bear has performed indoors and out, with small casts and large, offering works from the Elizabethan era to the present day. Before Bear’s fifth birthday, this small but mighty theatre collective had produced 15 different plays and, when The Gladstone theatre was incorporated in 2016, had been named one of five inaugural resident companies there.
Bear’s guiding principle is “compelling theatre, close to home.” We choose works that intrigue us as much as they please our audiences. We travel light, delivering peak power from our artists in a lean setting. We believe that Ottawa audiences are hungry for risk mixed with pleasure!
We tour Shakespeare to parks across Ottawa and beyond, offering full-on shows packed with sword fights, fire dances, glorious text, and soaring music. We come indoors at the Gladstone with thoughtful and beautiful productions of the classic shows we’ve always wanted to see. We undertake new work, showcasing Ottawa playwrights. Our mandate is to build audiences as we produce and create memorable theatre. Sometimes you come to us; sometimes we come to you.
With each show, we reform our collective around a handful of core members, operating under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Actors Equity Association. We have produced under festival agreements, the Indie 2.0, and collective agreements.
We look forward to greeting you at the next Bear & Co. show!
Bear’s guiding principle is “compelling theatre, close to home.” We choose works that intrigue us as much as they please our audiences. We travel light, delivering peak power from our artists in a lean setting. We believe that Ottawa audiences are hungry for risk mixed with pleasure!
We tour Shakespeare to parks across Ottawa and beyond, offering full-on shows packed with sword fights, fire dances, glorious text, and soaring music. We come indoors at the Gladstone with thoughtful and beautiful productions of the classic shows we’ve always wanted to see. We undertake new work, showcasing Ottawa playwrights. Our mandate is to build audiences as we produce and create memorable theatre. Sometimes you come to us; sometimes we come to you.
With each show, we reform our collective around a handful of core members, operating under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Actors Equity Association. We have produced under festival agreements, the Indie 2.0, and collective agreements.
We look forward to greeting you at the next Bear & Co. show!
Bear & Co. Core Collective Members
Eleanor Crowder
Eleanor Crowder is a writer, director and actor. Ottawa audiences remember her Mother Courage for James Richardson and her Shrew for Peter Hinton.
Most of her work tours, playing school gyms, community halls, ruins and glorious found spaces. Her devising and writing runs from first impulse (Family Stories with Kate Grier, coming to a kitchen table near you) to grandscale (The Chinese Bowl, Murder at the Avalon and GleeBE, the Musical). Her most recent play, Momma’s Boy, plays intimacy with big theatre values.
Eleanor recently directed Bear & Co.'s 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, and will return to direct their upcoming production of The Taming Of The Shrew in April/May 2013. She appeared as twin Dukes in Bear & Co.'s As You Like It and appeared in, wrote and directed Momma's Boy.
The bio: Belfast, Kingston, Calgary, Sudan, Ottawa, experimental theatre, physical theatre, nationalist voices, popular theatre, theatre in education, as many risky experiments as a young family will allow. Outaouais Popular Theatre, theatre in action. Salamander Theatre. Asterisk Rising. And continuing gratitude and respect to my unfurling repertory of actors and co-creators spread across the country.
Most of her work tours, playing school gyms, community halls, ruins and glorious found spaces. Her devising and writing runs from first impulse (Family Stories with Kate Grier, coming to a kitchen table near you) to grandscale (The Chinese Bowl, Murder at the Avalon and GleeBE, the Musical). Her most recent play, Momma’s Boy, plays intimacy with big theatre values.
Eleanor recently directed Bear & Co.'s 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, and will return to direct their upcoming production of The Taming Of The Shrew in April/May 2013. She appeared as twin Dukes in Bear & Co.'s As You Like It and appeared in, wrote and directed Momma's Boy.
The bio: Belfast, Kingston, Calgary, Sudan, Ottawa, experimental theatre, physical theatre, nationalist voices, popular theatre, theatre in education, as many risky experiments as a young family will allow. Outaouais Popular Theatre, theatre in action. Salamander Theatre. Asterisk Rising. And continuing gratitude and respect to my unfurling repertory of actors and co-creators spread across the country.
Rachel Eugster
An actor and lyric soprano, Rachel Eugster is comfortable in a wide range of musical and theatrical genres. South of the border, she originated leads in a musical comedy adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the Arthurian drama Avalon; and Conventional Behavior, a send-up of science fiction conventions.
In Ottawa, Rachel has appeared in The Walk (Moon Dog Productions), in Momma’s Boy at the 2011 Fringe Festival, in the Gladstone’sFarndale Christmas Carol, and as soprano soloist with various choirs and orchestras. Rachel has served as music director for Salamander Shakespeare Co. and GNAG Theatre, and is an artist in residence at Parkdale United Church.
Rachel recently appeared as Putana in Bear & Co.'s 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, where she also served as music director. Rachel was also music director for their production of As You Like It, and will return to music direct their upcoming production of The Taming Of The Shrew in April/May 2013.
Rachel trained with Wayne Conner at the Peabody Conservatory (Master of Music, Applied Voice), and with Mary Burgess at Marlboro College (Honors BA, Music and Theater). She also holds an AFTRA Conservatory Certificate.
To learn more, please visit RachelEugster.com.
In Ottawa, Rachel has appeared in The Walk (Moon Dog Productions), in Momma’s Boy at the 2011 Fringe Festival, in the Gladstone’sFarndale Christmas Carol, and as soprano soloist with various choirs and orchestras. Rachel has served as music director for Salamander Shakespeare Co. and GNAG Theatre, and is an artist in residence at Parkdale United Church.
Rachel recently appeared as Putana in Bear & Co.'s 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, where she also served as music director. Rachel was also music director for their production of As You Like It, and will return to music direct their upcoming production of The Taming Of The Shrew in April/May 2013.
Rachel trained with Wayne Conner at the Peabody Conservatory (Master of Music, Applied Voice), and with Mary Burgess at Marlboro College (Honors BA, Music and Theater). She also holds an AFTRA Conservatory Certificate.
To learn more, please visit RachelEugster.com.