Adjunct Teaching Opportunities (2022W)

Tirion Jones

(she/her)
BFA Acting

Tirion is a fourth-year BFA Acting student at UBC. A dual citizen of Canada and Britain, Tirion’s UK credits include Maria (The Sound of Music) and Estelle (No Exit). At UBC, her credits include: Woman (Oh, the Humanity!), Young Woman 1 (Machinal) and Coriolanus (Coriolanus).

You have/will see/hear/experience my work in

Commedia Dell’ArteMachinalNaked Cinema and Coriolanus.

What was one of the highlights of your UBC experience?

I have so many highlights, it’s incredibly hard to choose, but if I had to pick, being offered the amazing opportunity to play Coriolanus in my final show at UBC. Being a huge fan of Shakespeare it was transformative to take on this demanding role.

What kind of creative work do you see yourself doing in the next few years?

I would love to pursue acting in film and television, but part of my heart will always belong to theatre, particularly Shakespeare. Most of all I would love to have a thriving career in Vancouver, alongside my classmates.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Moving to Vancouver by myself at 18 to pursue acting. For me, that took guts!

Which talent would you most like to have?

Being multilingual.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Right now: Safeway Christmas Sugar Cookies.

If you could have dinner with someone fictional/real, who would it be?

My Nana. She was my biggest supporter and I’d love to tell her all about the craziness of the last four years.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A candle maybe? My room is always full of them and they put people at ease, which I hope I do!


Check out Tirion’s work here!

https://youtu.be/emmMg3I19g8

Fiona Jenkins

(she/her)
BFA Acting

Fiona is an actor and dancer from Portland. For UBC: Oil (May), Machinal (Telephone Girl/Young Woman), The Greeks (Hecuba/Electra). Other credits: Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries, Miranda in The Tempest, Jennifer in Burst, and Eurydice in Eurydice. She has danced with BodyVox’s JAG Company.

You have/will see/hear/experience my work in

MachinalNaked Cinema and Oil.

What was one of the highlights of your UBC experience?

Stepping out onstage on the final night of Oil and feeling the energy of a full house. I got to share this wonderful story one last time with my classmates, and the energy onstage was overwhelming. The love and talent everyone brought blew me away!

What kind of creative work do you see yourself doing in the next few years?

I am so excited by a lot of new plays being published right now, and I want to focus on new works. Lots of intimate and imaginative settings, breaking the fourth wall, reimagining classics. I’m excited by work that challenges me and makes me think.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Independently producing Gruesome Playground Injuries, a play by Rajiv Joseph, with fellow BFA students and alumni.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I would love to get better at acrobatics. Someday I will do a handspring!

What is your guilty pleasure?

I’m obsessed with trashy young adult sci-fi/fantasy novels.

If you could have dinner with someone fictional/real, who would it be?

I would love to meet my favourite author, Becky Chambers. She seems so insightful and whimsical!

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

I think I’d like to be a pine tree, to be connected with the earth around me and all of the living things in my ecosystem.


Check out Fiona’s work here!

Robyn Shanks

(she/her)
BFA Acting

Robyn grew up in the sunny Okanagan as a theatre brat. At UBC she learned her knack for playing domineering mothers by getting cast for roles such as Arkadina in Chekhov’s Seagull, Clytemnestra in The Greeks and Mother in Machinal. She is extremely proud to have completed a degree in acting at UBC.

You have/will see/hear/experience my work in

Commedia Dell’ArteMachinalNaked Cinema and Coriolanus.

What was one of the highlights of your UBC experience?

The biggest highlight of my time at UBC was working with director Tanya Mathivanan on my role as Menenius in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. Studying the classics was the exact reason I wanted to learn here and this was the kind of experience I’d hoped for.

What kind of creative work do you see yourself doing in the next few years?

In the next few years I see myself exploring the theatre and TV/film world of Vancouver. I am interested in doing any and all opportunities I can be a part of right out of the gates. I look forward to seeing where my career takes me.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

After denying to myself for 10 years what I really wanted to do, coming back to UBC at 28 to earn a BFA in Acting.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Exquisite dance technique.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Real crime documentaries.

If you could have dinner with someone fictional/real, who would it be?

Beethoven.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

An oak tree.


Check out Robyn’s work here!