Rohan Tickell

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Cape May's award-winning, Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company, will host a special evening for Stockton University students to experience Duncan Macmillan's globally celebrated play Every Brilliant Thing on Thursday, August 28, 2025. Part of the "Talkback Thursday" mental health sessions that have taken place throughout the run of the show, this panel will feature Tara O'Keefe, MA, LCADC, RDT, CTP, Addictions Counselor Supervisor at Stockton University on the topic of "Creative Coping: The Arts and Mental Health."

Starring internationally renowned actor Rohan Tickell and directed by international award-winning Director Dierdre McLaughlin, the one-man play explores mental health with deep compassion, a lot of humor and, most of all, hope. To extend the conversation beyond the stage, East Lynne has already hosted three “Talkback Thursdays,” each with a panel of mental health professionals discussing various aspects of mental wellness, such as men’s mental health, how to practice joy and resilience and mental health within families.

O’Keefe works within Stockton’s Wellness Center, which offers a robust array of mental health services to its students. The Wellness Center’s mission is “to encourage the pursuit of healthier lifestyles, balancing study, family and life commitments, interacting in an environment that fosters positive changes and integrates wellness into the community culture.”

“We are honored to have Stockton University headline our final ‘Talkback Thursday’ panel,” said Mark David Boberick, East Lynne’s executive director. “College can be a difficult time for many students and we applaud Stockton for recognizing this by having such an incredible mental health program available to them. We know that our audience – whether from Stockton or not – will absolutely gain something from this talkback panel.”

Every Brilliant Thing is an exceptionally funny and uplifting show that presents a serious topic in a charmingly masterful way. At its essence, the play is an exploration of joy and a testament to hope. Staged in the round,  Every Brilliant Thing begins with Tickell as a 7-year-old boy whose mother has been hospitalized. To cheer her up, he proceeds to create a list of all the things worth living for – ice cream, Kung Fu movies, holding hands. As he ages, his list grows and grows. The play is surprisingly humorous and immersive, inviting select audience members to participate in the narrative, thus creating a sense of communal celebration in the many small but brilliant things that make life worth living.

Every Brilliant Thing runs Wednesdays to Saturdays through August 30 at 7:00pm each night. ​Tickets are $40 general admission, $35 seniors, ​$25 for students and military. Shows take place at the new Clemans Theater for the Arts, 717 Franklin St. For tickets and information, go to EastLynneTheater.org. 

Rohan Tickell is a classically trained actor/singer, director and actor trainer with over 40 years of professional experience across both streams of the performance/training industry. As a creative/actor, his career spans projects as diverse as groundbreaking visual theatre, Shakespeare and self-devised Rock and Roll Cabaret, all the way to two decades in celebrated landmark musicals. He has extensive experience in the development, rehearsal and performance of high-end musical theatre productions, including leading roles in Les Misérables, Cats, Phantom of The Opera, Mamma Mia, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd and many others, both in his home country of Australia and across Europe/UK.

He has also carved significant experience on the concert stage, having recently headed up the 15th Anniversary Concert celebration of the groundbreaking “Three Phantoms” tour. As a highly sought after director/trainer/coach he currently guests at the sharp end of actor training as a visiting professional at Royal Central, LAMDA and Mountview. His past ventures have led him to teach and direct at Rose Bruford, Italia Conti, Trinity Laban amongst other notable institutions. His most recent long-term appointment was seven years as head of acting and voice on ArtsEd, London’s renowned flagship Musical Theatre course. He holds a Master’s degree in actor training and coaching from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is committed to a dynamic, reflexive relationship between his pedagogical approach and ongoing acting practice, with a core focus on developing practical and artistic agency in his students.

Tara O’Keefe is a Licensed Clinical Drug and Alcohol Counselor (LCADC) and a Registered Drama Therapist (RDT). Tara is a supervisor for the Residential Life Recovery Housing program and the advisor for Stockton Sober Ospreys, a student organization with a mission to promote a healthy sober lifestyle. Tara provides individual counseling to students and leads weekly support groups, which focus on sober curiosity and recovery. Tara received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of the Arts in 2008 and a master's degree in Drama Therapy from New York University in 2011. She began her career as a Creative Arts Therapist working with children and families impacted by interpersonal violence.

Prior to her appointment at Stockton, Tara worked for four years as a primary counselor at a substance abuse treatment center in New Jersey, where she supported individuals experiencing co-occurring substance use and mental health concerns within a partial care and intensive outpatient recovery program. Tara offers a whole person, strength-based approach to students, integrating her training in Creative Arts Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), trauma-informed care, and mindfulness into the therapeutic process. Areas of her professional interest include working with students exploring their substance use; those who have experienced interpersonal violence; individuals with anxiety, depression, and/or ADHD/neurodivergence; and LGBTQIA+ persons.

Tara’s therapeutic approach is impacted by her experience as a Registered Yoga Teacher, having previously owned and operated a yoga studio for five years, as well as her history co-leading a volunteer organization, which shared trauma-informed mindfulness and yoga practices with mental health professionals and trauma survivors. Tara believes in cultivating belonging, healing, and empowerment, while continuously striving towards diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility from humanistic and intersectional feminist perspectives.

Founded in 1980, East Lynne Theater Company has been named by The New York Times as one of the Top 75 summer theaters in North America and recognized by the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly as “one of the state’s most important cultural treasures.” In 2023, understanding that the American Theater is itself a growing work of art, East Lynne expanded its mission to “present and preserve America’s theatrical heritage” by including plays about America today. As of 2025, East Lynne, which is currently housed in Cape May Presbyterian Church, continues to raise funds for its Capital Campaign to renovate its new home, the Clemans Theater for the Arts at Allen AME Church. As the company expands into the Clemans Theater, so does its calendar, which will offer year-round entertainment that includes plays and performances from worldwide writers, actors, musicians, and more.