He/She and Me

The Justice Theater Project presents

He/She and Me

Stage Play by Sharon Mathis, Screenplay by Sharon Mathis and Jerry Sipp

Featuring Janet Boudreau

Purchase on VIMEO on demand.

$20 family price. $10 Individual.

Email us if you are unable to afford access and we will gladly provide a link.

The story of a husband who chooses to live the rest of his life as a woman after 40 years of marriage

CLICK HERE to listen to Mac and Judy McCord share their story of marriage and transition. Led by JTP’s Outreach Coordinator, Jorie Slodki, the interview also includes Director Jerry Sipp and Lead Actress, Janet Boudreau.


Pat and Sam are soulmates, cherishing a 40-year marriage that has survived and thrived through thick and thin. Then their relationship faces the ultimate test: Sam chooses to live the rest of his life as his authentic self – a woman. During Sam's three-year transition into becoming Sheila, Pat journeys through the confusion, disillusion, transformation, and acceptance, discovering that she, too, has become a new woman.

Janet Boudreau reprises the role of Pat in the one-woman production, having starred in the stage version at Raleigh's Women’s Theatre Festival and Boone's BOLO Festival to sold-out audiences. This time around, she brings Pat to life in The Justice Theater Project's new film version, directed by JTP's Artistic Director, Jerry Sipp. She was last seen on JTP's stage as Mrs. Bedwin in our hit musical, OLIVER! 

Filmed on location around the Triangle, at parks, creeks, on rope swings, decks, a motel, a gym, as well as home interiors and exteriors and the NC coast.

 Playwright, Sharon Mathis shared her inspiration and the process for the story, “I wanted to write a love story. Falling in love is much easier than staying in love. So, I wanted a story about how couples keep their love and make their relationship work through huge changes in one partner. The biggest change I could imagine was gender transition by one of them. The character is a compilation of the stories of the women interviewed in Dr. Virginia Erhadt’s book “ Head Over Heels: Women Who Stay With Cross-Dressing and Transitioning Partners.” I combined the common themes among them into one character. I wanted the story to be told by Pat because I wanted the audience to see Sam/Sheila only through the eyes of the woman who loved her. It makes it harder to pass judgment.”

 Director Jerry Sipp explained his favorite aspect of the film, “We are a friend and a fly on the wall for Pat during this three-year journey. We see her at the best of times and the absolute worst of times. Rarely does a film combine the tears, the rawness and the upheaval with the laughter, the love, and the personal nature of one person’s story.” Sipp was inspired by the theme of change. “Societal change is always led by those who have personally experienced injustice because of who they are. Change almost always requires allies as well, those who learn about the issue vicariously and join the cause. With so many social justice issues that need this approach in our world today, I wanted to present a piece about the sometimes bumpy journey that loved ones must ride to learn not only to accept someone with different life experience but to embrace their loved one’s true self and become a true ally for them.”

Janet Boudreau reprises her role of Pat in the film version of HE/SHE AND ME after being featured in this one-woman show at The Woman's Theatre Festival (WTF) and again in Boone's BOLO Festival. Janet has also played leading roles in WTF productions of MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD and the Planned Parenthood 100th Anniversary Celebration. She was last seen on JTP's stage as Mrs. Bedwin in our hit musical, OLIVER! Janet regularly sings with Choral Society of Durham, and has performed with chorales in Brazil, Cuba and Spain.

Sharon Mathis is a playwright and solo performer. “He/She and Me” premiered at Atlanta's Academy Theatre in 2009, and traveled to Fringe and Women's Work Festivals in New Orleans, San Francisco, and New York, psychology conferences, and trans and queer events. She founded and ditected Atlanta's Open Invitation Theatre, creating collaages of staged readings by racially and sexually diverse   feminist poets and writers throughout the 90's. Coda, her latest play about rebellious aging lovers,  played at the Academt Theatre this February. The Liars' Child, an adaptation of a Greek heroic tragedy retold by the women and children, received an Ethel Woolson Award from Working Title Playwrights.

She writes and performs for festivals, literary events, and Fieldwork artists' collective.

Jerry Sipp, Director, Screenplay, North Carolina director, actor, and educator Jerry Sipp has been appointed as The Justice Theater Project’s (JTP) Artistic Director. Sipp will be the company’s second artistic director.

A veteran professional theatre artist, Sipp has served as Producing Artistic Director for Temple Theatre in Sanford, The Playhouse Theatre in Rocky Mount, and Granville Little Theatre in Oxford.  Sipp is the co-founder of Trio Productions, a professional touring educational theatre with an 18-year touring history across the U.S. and Scotland. He has directed well over 100 productions and performed in over 100 shows.  Sipp is a member of the Actor's Equity Association, the union of professional stage actors in the U.S.  He served for three years as a member of the Board of Directors of the NC Theatre Conference. Sipp has also seen 12 of his original scripts produced and has won several awards for his playwriting.

For JTP, he has directed the musicals Ragtime and Grey Gardens, played the lead role of Mitch Albom in Tuesdays with Morrie, and has worked with JTP as their 2017-2018 season-long producer of A Soldier’s Play (October, 2017), Black Nativity (December, 2017),  and Bent (February 2018) to critical acclaim. He directed JTP’s June 2018 musical Oliver! and performed the role of Fagin. In 2019 he directed the critically acclaimed Sweat. 2020 found Jerry reprising for film his one-man show “Shadows,” based on the life of Robert Louis Stevenson.

wo ahin soll ich geh’n/Where Can I Go?

April, 2021

Jewish Family Services and The Justice Theater Project are proud to announce a partnership for an upcoming film production, co-directed by Barbara Kaynan and Jesse Bonnell with the 2020-21 Kesher Group.

 Executive Produced by Raleigh-Cary Jewish Family Services in partnership with The Justice Theater Project.

Complex histories collide with our challenging present in this documentary film event which debuts on Yom Ha’Shoah/ Holocaust Remembrance Day. A group of Holocaust survivors, filmed during the 2020-21 global Coronavirus pandemic, share their experiences of trauma and resilience with the greater community in an urgent effort to ensure we never forget.

 The adults portrayed in this film participated in Kesher, a Raleigh-Cary JFS program, utilizing creative arts therapy to improve mental health and reduce the social isolation of Holocaust survivors. Read more about Kesher and other Holocaust Survivors services

The River Speaks of Thirst by Jaki Shelton Green

jaki Shelton Green.jpg

March, 2021

The power and truth of North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green’s poetry illuminate the African-American experience, past, present, and future, in this extraordinary new compilation.  Actors, musicians, and dancers enliven her powerful messages with spoken word, interpretive dance, and song. 


This vibrant artistic collaboration shines a bright light on critical issues of race, injustice, and dignity affecting all of our lives in this pivotal moment in our history.


Finding My Voice by Lee Galbreath

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Lee Galbreath takes us on a moving, hilarious rollercoaster ride that led her to become an “accidental” opera singer.  Her religious upbringing, insecurities, body image, and perfectionism, coupled with societal pressures facing female artists, left her unable to sing a note for two years. 


A raw, brave, and winding path ultimately led her back to the stage in this triumphant one-woman tour de force of humor, honesty, and spectacular song, thrilling us that Lee has, once again, found her voice.