Acting and Performance
My acting practice ranges from drama to musical theatre, comedy, and devising original work. Attending and working at the Stratford Festival’s Shakespeare School for many years gave me a strong foundation in classical text, my theatre studies in Ireland provided me with training in movement and absurdist theatre, while my experiences working in Hamilton have allowed me to collaborate and create new original works.
Below is a selection of shows I’ve performed in and/or created.
Hamlet
Directed by
Aaron Joel Craig
Presented by
Rook’s Theatre x Same Boat Theatre
Performers
Sophie Cote David DiFrancesco Rebekka Gondosch
Allison Hossack Stephanie Hope Lawlor Stephen Near
Michael Rode Jennifer Walton Jay Watson
I had the honour of playing the role of Ophelia in a sold out run of Hamlet in the autumn of 2024. This performance was a site-specific adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, performed at St. Luke’s Mission in Hamilton.
You can read more about this production in the digital program below and at Rook's Theatre | rookstheatre
Relative Loneliness
Open Heart Arts, Hamilton
Written by Steve Hartwell
Directed by Kelly Wolf
Performers Rebekka Gondosch (Jude), Jesse Horvath (Will), and Jen Frankel (Jean)
Loneliness comes in many guises. While clearing out their parents house, an ailing aunt comes to stay with Jude and Will. Can this aunt exorcise their loneliness before driving them all around the bend?
Artwork by Alan Alizadeh. Performed as part of Hamilton Fringe Festival’s “Theatre on Demand” series, July 2021.
“…this play is definitely not one to miss in this year’s Fringe.” -Beyond James Blog
“The performances here are engaging and genuine. All three actors Jen Frankel, Rebekka Gondosch, and Jesse Horvath have excellent on-stage chemistry…a wonderful piece of theatre. Definitely worth seeing.” -Steel City Girl Reviews
Fertility: A Workshop Reading
Light Echo Theatre, Hamilton
“The idea for Fertility is a theatrical collage of monologues that came from grappling with our own biological reproductive timelines. As we began to discuss the many ways our fertility effected our lives it became clear that many of these topics are deeply private and rarely discussed in public.
Featuring a cast and creative of local Ontario women, trans and non-binary artists, including (in no particular order) Karen Ancheta, Laura Welch, Niki Nikita, Melissa Murray-Mutch, Meg Webster, Bria McLaughlin, Jessica Pellicciotta, Kaleigh Gorka, Rebekka Gondosch, Kit Simmons and Carly Anna Billings, this collection of stories surrounding the ever-pressing subject of fertility is currently in workshop and its reading is ready to be witnessed by an audience.
Join us March 1, 2023 in the Theatre Aquarius Lobby at 8pm
for a reading of this 60 minute work followed by a discussion with these creators and performers.”
Fertility’s development has been generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council.
Why the River Sings
Created by Passing Through Theatre Lily Sutherland, Shanice Bowrin, and Rebekka Gondosch
Originally commissioned and presented by Theatre Direct, as part of Forward March Festival in Toronto, April 2022
Music Composition and Music Direction by Chris Thornborrow
Featuring Manisha Maharajh, Monique May Dion, Collette Radeau, Helen Peever, Kelsey Dann
Indigenous Consultant: Rose Stella
Accessibility Consultant: Sage Lovell
Through storytelling, puppetry, and choral music, audiences are invited into an immersive theatrical experience inspired and informed by the history of Toronto’s famous lost river, Garrison Creek.
Photo by Sam Polzin Photography
a series of stories for somewhere in-between
Created and Performed by
Shanice Bowrin
Rebekka Gondosch and
Lily Sutherland
A series of stories from somewhere in-between shares playful and heartfelt stories, both real and imagined, inspired by books, bookshops, and those who encounter them. Through storytelling, shadow puppetry, and music, Passing Through Theatre brings everyday stories to life in your local bookshop.
Audiences are invited to join us outside the bookshop for an intimate sidewalk viewing experience. By peeking through the display window (from the outside-looking-in), performers behind glass will share tales of things lost, found, and the moments in-between.
Originally commissioned and performed as part of In the Soil Festival, August 2021.
Relative Loneliness
Open Heart Arts, Hamilton
Written by Steve Hartwell
Directed by Kelly Wolf
Performers Rebekka Gondosch (Jude), Jesse Horvath (Will), and Jen Frankel (Jean)
Loneliness comes in many guises. While clearing out their parents house, an ailing aunt comes to stay with Jude and Will. Can this aunt exorcise their loneliness before driving them all around the bend?
Artwork by Alan Alizadeh. Performed as part of Hamilton Fringe Festival’s “Theatre on Demand” series, July 2021.
“…this play is definitely not one to miss in this year’s Fringe.” -Beyond James Blog
“The performances here are engaging and genuine. All three actors Jen Frankel, Rebekka Gondosch, and Jesse Horvath have excellent on-stage chemistry…a wonderful piece of theatre. Definitely worth seeing.” -Steel City Girl Reviews
Through the Pages
Created and Performed by
Shanice Bowrin
Rebekka Gondosch and
Lily Sutherland
Sound Design by
Jesse Horvath
Through the Pages is an auditory and visual journey into the history of Hamilton's library. Audiences are guided through time and into a world of imagination, without leaving home! It's time to turn the page…
Originally commissioned and performed as part of Frost Bites Festival (Hamilton, 2021).
Imposter Queer
Created and Performed by
Rebekka Gondosch and Jesse Horvath
Imposter Queer explores what it means to discover your queerness late in life. Through a series of vignettes, the performance examines how frustrating, absurd, and comical heteronormative expectations can be. Why are these expectations so binding? Why are they so hard to break? With playfulness, physicality, and honest anecdotes, actors Rebekka Gondosch and Jesse Horvath respond to these questions and offer their ever-evolving perspectives on what it means to be queer.
Originally devised for Hamilton’s Pride Showcase by Queer on Stage in 2019. Revived for In the Soil Festival’s Rhizomes in 2020.
The Vagina Monologues
by Eve Ensler
Presented by
Light Echo Theatre
Light Echo Theatre’s inaugural production brought together femme artists from across Hamilton and Toronto to perform The Vagina Monologues at The Staircase theatre and raise money for organizations SACHA Sexual Assault Centre and Birthmark. The show raised $1,400 for these charity partners!
A Modicum of Freedom
Presented by
Make Art Theatre
I love character acting and this production gave me the opportunity to play three unique and playful characters. This version of the play, written by Ryan M. Sero, was performed at The Staircase Theatre in Hamilton in 2018.
“Attending a performance of Ephemeral Home, created by Lily Sutherland and co-performed with Rebekka Gondosch, is one of the most unique and rewarding Fringe experiences you are likely to encounter.”
— Bryan Boodhoo, Raise the Hammer
Ephemeral Home
Performed by
Lily Sutherland and Rebekka Gondosch
Written by
Lily Sutherland
Directed by
Kelsey Dann
“Ephemeral Home will take you on an adventure, without leaving the living room. Come and explore what 'home' means to us as human beings, and members of society. How are we affected by the homes we were born into, the homes we create for ourselves, and homes we never expected to discover? Using handheld lights, multiple voice recordings, projections and live music, the performers bring the audience together on a multi-sensory creative journey within the space of a Hamilton home.
Originally performed at Hamilton Fringe Festival (Hamilton, 2018).”
