Speaking in Draft
iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Emily Jung.
"I want theatre to be so ingrained in everyone's day-to-day life, that it becomes natural to go see a show that's happening locally,” says Jung. “It should be an integral part of society for people to be able to access a cultural space, go there, and experience something that energizes them."
iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Byron Laviolette.
Speaking in Draft: Byron Laviolette
“Right now, the creation-to-production process for a lot of people is from the Toronto Fringe to — hopefully — some theatre recommender grants, to a workshop production, to maybe an actual production,” says What The Festival co-founder Byron Laviolette. “But the realities of mounting a show at the Fringe don’t translate to a two-week run at the Extraspace at Tarragon. Peoples’ appetites are different. Yet we don’t train or support people to translate their shows into those different contexts."
iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Justin Miller.
Speaking in Draft: Justin Miller
“I love to laugh,” says Miller, an actor, bouffon drag clown, performance artist, and teacher extraordinaire. “Some of the most impactful and meaningful experiences I've had have been shared through a comedic lens. I think you have a far better chance of actually changing people with comedy, because it's in moments of surprise and subversion of expectation that you have a chance to knock them off their balance, and maybe show them something new.”
iPhoto caption: Headshot courtesy of Davinder Malhi.
Speaking in Draft: Davinder Malhi
“When I was younger — around when I graduated theatre school in 2020 — queerness meant identity and identity politics,” says multi-hyphenate Malhi. “In many ways, it still does, but I’ve gotten to a place now where I don’t desire to discuss the identity part of queerness.”