Photo of Haley Sarfeld

Haley Sarfeld

Current Contributor

Haley Sarfeld (she/they) works as a theatre critic for the Kingston Theatre Alliance and Kingston Whig-Standard. As a playwright, performer, and composer-lyricist, she has been featured in the Shortwave Theatre Festival, Watershed Festival: Reimagining Music Theatre, and the Kick & Push Festival. Since completing her MA in Cultural Studies at Queen's University, Haley has worked in administrative and marketing roles for a variety of local arts organizations. Haley's writing can be found year-round in the Skeleton Press, where she contributes themed crossword puzzles and writes articles about sidewalks, dreams, and the radio. She has also been known to air small-city drama in Intermission Magazine. Photo by Jeff Henderson.

Articles by Haley

Headshot of Felicia Holmes. She smiles into the camera.

Bringing Back the Bard: Felicia Holmes talks ‘Twelfth Night’

  • Artist
  • Blue Canoe Productions
  • Interview
  • Juvenis Festival

When it comes to theatre, Felicia Holmes is up for anything. “I’m an actor, primarily, but I’m passionate about all aspects of theatre, and whenever I’m needed, I like to jump in. I went to the SLC [St. Lawrence College] music theatre program, and right from the very beginning, I was in the joint program with Queen’s. So two years at SLC, and then two years at Queen’s.”

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Headshot of Remira Pryce. She is on a patio. She is smiling at the camera with her eyes closed.

“It’s a Launching Point for So Many People”: Remira Pryce talks Blue Canoe

  • Artist
  • Blue Canoe Productions
  • Interview

Once upon a December—a few days before the opening of Blue Canoe Productions’ winter musical, Anastasia—I sat down with Remira Pryce to talk about community theatre and youth-led arts. It had been close to twelve months since Pryce stepped into her role as Arts Managing Director at the local youth-led theatre company, and she was eager to reflect on the past year and to chat about plans for the coming spring.

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A woman is in front of a lake holding a large puppet. The edge of the puppet faces her and they look at each other.

A Window into the World of Clelia Scala

  • Artist
  • Interview

If you’ve been out walking along Princess, Brock, or Ontario Street in the past few months, you may have spotted some whimsical window displays. In February and March, Windows on Downtown Kingston featured work by Queen’s drama students, who have been studying the craft of bringing places to life in Clelia Scala’s prop design class this semester. 

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Headshot of Jerall Li looking up and smiling. He wears glasses, a white hat, a black shirt, and is against a black background.

“You Have To Start With A Crazy Idea”: Jerall Li Talks Lighting Design for ‘Love and Information’

  • Artist
  • Interview
  • Queen's University

“You have to start with a crazy idea. You have to dream really, really big, and then you think about, oh, do I have the budget to do it? Do I have the time to do it? But still, you have to dream big. You have to be ambitious, and then you will actually put your effort into making those things happen, even if you don’t have the money, even if you don’t have the time—the end result will be so much better than if you just want to play it safe.”

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Headshot of Nic Lindegger. They wear an off-the-shoulder red top. The background is full of trees. Lindegger stares straight into the camera, slightly smiling.

A Deep Dive into Directing: Nic Lindegger Talks ‘Robin and Magpie’

  • Artist
  • Interview

Nic Lindegger is ready to leave the nest.
After working as Evalyn Parry’s assistant director on two shows in 2024—first Erin Shields’ Paradise Lost for the DAN School Drama Major, then the independent debut of Sophia Fabiilli’s Why It’s imPossible—Lindegger is spreading their wings as a solo director. When we spoke in December, they had just signed on to direct Victoria Marmulak’s new comedy, Robin and Magpie, which plays this weekend at Theological Hall.

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Group of five people sitting against a large white pillar. They are all dresses in casual summer clothing and looking off in different directions.

What Does It Take to Be A Producer? Grace Delamere Talks ‘Sharing Is Caring’

  • Artist
  • Interview
  • Of The Sea Productions

How well do you know your loved ones? In Sharing Is Caring, a group of close friends finds themselves opening up in unexpected ways over the course of a night spent in an old, abandoned church. Written and produced by Grace Delamere, Sharing Is Caring is the fourth new work to be presented by Of The Sea Productions, an independent theatre production company founded in 2023.

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The Triumphant Return of ‘JOSIAH’: A Conversation with Cassel Miles

  • Artist
  • Interview

In the middle of a prolific career as a dancer and Dora-nominated actor, Cassel Miles found himself losing his passion for performance. After a period of depression, which turned into a ten-year hiatus from professional theatre, he moved from Toronto to the Kingston area—where community connections and a long-awaited project rekindled his passion and brought him back to the stage. 

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Image of a man with dark hair, wearing a dark shirt and dark pants stands low to the ground on a rock. He holds a cigarette in one hand. Deep blue water and a deep blue sky are behind him.

Experimental Mime and Shadow Play: Nathan Zhe Talks ‘Snow in Midsummer: The Silence’

  • Artist
  • Interview
  • Yu Theatre Society

To call Nathan Zhe the co-producer and director of Yu Theatre Society’s Snow in Midsummer: The Silence feels like an oversimplification of his role. After all, he’s also the show’s technical director, sound designer, and live sound programmer, as well as one of two student playwrights who adapted the 12th-century Chinese script to create a non-verbal performance using shadows and movement. 

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Poster for Kingston Meistersingers' production of 'Bonnie & Clyde'. The poster shows the title, music credit, book credit, and lyrics credit, with the slogan: 'Kingston's most wanted musical!'

Put Your Hands In The Air For ‘Bonnie & Clyde’

  • Kingston Meistersingers
  • Review

They’re young, they’re in love, and they’re in possession of stolen firearms. The Kingston Meistersingers are stealing hearts this season with Bonnie & Clyde, a fast-paced musical based on the story of real-life crime duo Bonnie Parker (Rachel Savlov) and Clyde Barrow (Rowan Engen).  Parker and Barrow’s infamous exploits and violent deaths in the 1930s sparked enduring public interest, inspiring numerous adaptations in the nearly hundred years since their heyday. […]

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Headshot of Elsa McKnight, with long brown hair, in front of a green, leafy backdrop, looking off into the distance.

Elsa McKnight Gets Experimental

  • Artist
  • Interview
  • Queen's Theatre Troupe

“Everything is useful. Everything is worth studying.” When I met with Elsa McKnight to discuss EXPERIMENT 1a, I was slightly surprised by her cheerful demeanour. While the show’s marketing has a rather ominous tone—with black-and-red posters that read “Tabula Rasa Laboratory: We Are Always Watching” and Instagram posts with captions like “lean into the uncertainty” and “have you given up on society?”—its creator is warm and chatty, with a distinct […]

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Poster for Domino Theatre's production of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. The theatre company, title, author of the novella the play is based on, adaptation credit, and director are noted. There is also a hand holding a beaker filled with green liquid.

Disturbingly Congenial and Delightfully Frightening: ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’

  • Domino Theatre
  • Review

Whether you recognize it from the theatre, the cinema, the Victorian novella, or the iconic Arthur song, the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an enduring cultural touchstone. With a healthy mix of good and evil, fantasy and drama, this story provides the perfect recipe for a spooky autumn play—which means it’s arrived at Domino Theatre just in time.  Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 gothic horror […]

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Poster for The Spire's production of 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten'. The organization name, dates, times, supporters, where to find tickets.

Going Back To School with “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten”

  • Review
  • The Spire

Amid the bustle of back-to-school season, a new local theatre club offers a charming take on an old collection of stories. Full of thought-provoking subject matter and peppy performances, The Spire’s Seniors’ Theatre Group presents All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Conceived and adapted in 1992 by Ernest Zulia with music by David Caldwell, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is based […]

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