'Her spirit is there': Story of Becca Schofield to tour N.B. stages

Anne and Darren Schofield have a lot of photos, paintings and awards to remember their daughter and now they have a new play about her short life.

Becca is the story of Rebecca Schofield, a teenager from Riverview, N.B., who did everything she could to make the world a better place before she died of brain cancer six years ago.

Having a play about her life is surreal for Anne and she said her daughter would think it was mind-blowing.

“We feel so much love for the people that have decided to go through this process, respect. The compassion that’s been shown to us is immeasurable,” said Anne.

After her terminal diagnosis in 2015, the teen started her worldwide #beccatoldmeto movement that encouraged people to commit acts of kindness.

The play runs during the month of February, the same month she passed away at the age of 18.

“It’s always a hard month for us. It’s also the month that she was first diagnosed with cancer. So there’s a lot of those memories, but this is bringing a little bit of hope and joy into the month,” said Anne.

Theatre New Brunswick Artistic and General Director Natasha MacLellan said the play is documentary-style theatre.

Anne and Darren Schofield, and their dog Benny, hold the Order of New Brunswick, which Rebecca received posthumously, on Feb. 7, 2024

Portraying her life accurately was important to everyone involved in the project because Becca became so well-known and her story was so rooted in the generosity and kindness of her movement, MacLellan said.

“We didn’t want to put on a play that made the Schofields uncomfortable or try to dramatize her life to make it look like a Hollywood or Hallmark Christmas movie of the week. We wanted it to be honest and heartfelt and we wanted the Schofields to be proud of the show as well,” said MacLellan.

The playwright worked closely with the Schofield family during pre-production.

“Mélanie Léger did interviews with people in the story and read all the Facebook posts and so all of the dialogue in the play is words that actually got said or words that were written online,” said MacLellan.

Becca herself is not a character in the play – no young actress portrays her.

“But she permeates the whole play,” said MacLellan. “Her spirit is there. Her movement is there. It’s all about her, but the focus is on the movement and the family.”

Darren Schofield said talking about his daughter helps him deal with the loss and people often approach him with something uplifting to share.

Rebecca Schofield is shown in a May, 2016, family handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Anne Schofield

“They say, ‘You’re Becca’s dad. I have to tell you this.’ And they’ll tell you a story about something that happened that affected them. We’re getting stories from people years after she’s been gone that she touched, that she reached,” said Darren.

The family still receives messages of support from around the globe that help them with their grief.

“Her movement reached people in 94 countries. That’s pretty powerful. There’s 195 countries in the world and she reached almost half of them with this little wish of changing the world one act of kindness at a time,” said Anne.

MacLellan said what people take out of the show is their own.

“Our greatest hope is that people are inspired to do more acts of kindness. To embrace kindness and to keep this movement alive,” she said. “Our hope is that the kindness movement is strengthened and that it continues because the world really needs it.“

Becca by Theatre New Brunswick, in collaboration with Théâtre populaire d’Acadie, will tour around the province until March 2.

The bilingual play will feature dialogue in both French and English.

Surtitles will be projected on the set when the actors speak in each language so everyone will be able to understand the dialogue.

The cast features Mélanie LeBlanc, Matthew Lumley, Bianca Richard, Danielle Toner, Carlo Weka and is directed by Geneviève Pineault.

Visit tnb.nb.ca/Becca for dates, show times and ticket information.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.