LATEST WORK
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST:
MY LIFE
WRITTEN & DIRECTED
BY NIALL MCNEIL
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST:
MY LIFE
WORLD PREMIERE: MARCH 28, 2025
CULTCH HISTORIC THEATRE
Part fantasy, part reality, with huge dollops of whimsy, Niall McNeil’s BBML (Beauty and The Beast: My Life) transports audiences into a vibrant realm that references Disney and Cocteau but charts its own unique narrative path through Niall’s experiences and multi-faceted art practice.
“Talk about innovation. Talk about risk. Talk about reward. Talk about Niall McNeil’s Beauty and the Beast: My Life. …All theatre is collaborative, but this collaboration is particularly exciting: so many high-powered artists coming together to realize the vision of another high-powered artist who’s sharing an aspect of human experience we seldom see on the stage... I encourage you to see Beauty and the Beast: My Life. You will be lucky to encounter this artist”.
- COLIN THOMAS/FRESH SHEET
Niall McNeil identifies as a practising multidisciplinary artist with Down Syndrome. Beauty and the Beast: My Life marks Niall’s directorial debut, in addition to creating the story and visual art in the play. Niall has assembled an incredible team of collaborators and performers who have come together to centre his unique approach to art-making.
“BBML is experimenting with paintings that I’ve designed with handles so people can dance with them. My original idea is to let the performers work in my different new way. It’s my first time being a director. My purpose is to make my own art.”
- NIALL MCNEIL
BBML is a celebration of movement and the power of imagination, combining Niall’s dialogue, lyrics and paintings, with the performers swirling through space and time, to a seriously catchy musical score by Veda Hille, that’s sure to challenge your perceptions and delight audiences of all ages. This is a highly original interdisciplinary performance, the likes of which you’re unlikely to experience on stage again any time soon.
“Here is a trailblazing artist who has taken life as it was handed to him and forged a career in theatre, the visual arts, film and now as a director…to say this Beauty and the Beast is like no other you’ve ever seen is an understatement…McNeil opens a window on his world and his thought processes.. I saw it. I embraced it. I found the poetry”.
- JO LEDINGHAM
THEATRE REVIEWS ON THE SCENE
A note about the language of the play. This play is written by Niall McNeil. As a man who is experiencing hearing loss, Niall is learning ASL. This is his first work in which he incorporates signs from ASL into the language of the play. He uses both spoken English and ASL in ways that are intuitive and deeply personal. We invite audiences to embrace his distinctive ways of expressing himself and find the poetry within it.
BBML has been designed with accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing community, with descriptive, live captioning offered at each performance.
Written & Directed by Niall McNeil
Produced by: Niall McNeil Productions
Key Creative Collaboration and Choreography: Billy Marchenski
Performers & Collaborators: Billy Marchenski, Sophia Mai Wolfe, Kate Franklin, Peter Anderson, Elizabeth Barrett
Director Mentor: Debbie Patterson
Composer: Veda Hille
Lighting Designer: Itai Erdal
Costume Designer: Christine Reimer
Sound Designer: Mishelle Cuttler
Set & Props Designer, Technical Director: Paula Viitanen Aldazosa
Pre-Show Projection Design:
Candelario Andrade
Dramaturge: Michele Valiquette
Production Manager: Jessica Han
Stage Manager: Jillian Perry
Surtitles Designer and Audio Describer: Anika Vervecken
Producers: Joan McNeil, Brian Postalian, John Dippong
Public Funders: Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver.
Niall McNeil Productions
Artistic Director: Niall McNeil
Manager & Creative Director: Joan McNeil
Producer: John Dippong
TOURING INFORMATION
Running time 90 mins w/ one intermission
6 hours of setup, 4 hours of cueing/ levels/ tech, and 4 hours of rehearsal with 2 crew before the first performance
Stage
Ideal Stage Area: 35' wide x 30' deep (10.5m x 9m)
Minimum Stage Area: 30' wide x 25' deep (9m x 8m)
Trim height: 15' (4.5m)
Full black masking with wings and upstage cross over.
Lighting (by Itai Erdal)
DMX controlled system with minimum 45 lighting instruments/ circuits (negotiable).
BBML photos by Tim Matheson
NIALL MCNEIL
PLAYWRIGHT, ACTOR, DIRECTOR, FILMMAKER
Niall McNeil is an artist living with Down Syndrome who has been involved with theatre from an early age through his lifelong association with the Caravan Farm Theatre.
Niall was an ensemble member of Vancouver’s Leaky Heaven Theatre 1999-2006, under the direction of Steven Hill. In 2010, Niall performed in A Christmas Carol as a member of the English Acting Company of the National Arts Centre, Director Peter Hinton. Niall and Marcus Youssef have co-written two Jessie Richardson Theatre Award winning plays together, Peter Panties (2011) (Leaky Heaven/Neworld Theatre) and King Arthur’s Night (2017) (Neworld Theatre). In 2018, Niall was awarded a Certificate of Honor from Studio 58 acting school in Vancouver.
Niall acted in Director Marie Clements’ 2012 short film, Pilgrims (TIFF 2012). In 2022, Niall partnered with Marie again as creative collaborator and subject of her NFB documentary Lay Down Your Heart (VIFF 2022). Niall directed his first documentary film The Originals, about the founding members of the Caravan Stage Company and Farm Theatre, which premiered at the 2024 DOXA Film Festival.
NIALL'S WORK
FILMMAKING
Lay Down Your Heart (2022) NOW STREAMING on NFB Online | TRAILER
The Originals (2024) NOW STREAMING on Telus Originals | TRAILER
PLAYWRITING
(2025) Beauty and the Beast My Life Writer & Director Niall McNeil's new play 'Beauty and the Beast My Life' (BBML) is a unique adaptation of the classic tale with collaborators Billy Marchenski, Sophia Wolfe, and composer Veda Hile, Cultch Theatre
(2020) Joseph Jacket Multimask - First Drafts Project
A new musical by Niall McNeil and Anton Lipovetsky, Sheridan College
(2017-2019) King Arthur's Night
by Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef, Neworld Theatre, Luminato Festival, National Arts Centre, PuSh Festival, Hong Kong International Arts Festival
(2011) Peter Panties
by Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef, Neworld Theatre
ACTING
(2025) Beauty and the Beast: My Life Written and Directed by Niall McNeil
(2022) Lay Down Your Heart Directed by Marie Clements
(2017-2019) King Arthur’s Night Directed by James Long
(2012) Pilgrims Written and Directed by Marie Clements, Cannes Film Festival
(2009-2010) A Christmas Carol directed by Peter Hinton, National Arts Centre
(2006) Salome by Oscar Wilde directed by Steven Hill, Leaky Heaven Circus
(2005) Bonobo Leaky Heaven Circus, Vancouver Folk Music Festival
(2004) Ziggurat Under the Big Top Leaky Heaven Circus, Vancouver Folk Music Festival
(2002) Birthday Boy Leaky Heaven Circus, The Cultch
(2002) King Lyr Leaky Heaven Circus, Vancouver International Children's Festival
(2001) Conference of the Birds Leaky Heaven Circus, Vancouver Chan Centre and The Cultch
(2000) Typhoon Leaky Heaven Circus, The Cultch
(1999) Leaky Heaven Circus: Part One Leaky Heaven Circus, The Cultch
(1990) Strange Medicine Caravan Farm Theatre
(1989) Romeo and Juliet Caravan Farm Theatre
(1988) As You Like It & Bull By The Horns Caravan Farm Theatre