ADAM PAOLOZZA

I was so happy to get the opportunity to meet up with Adam Paolozza at Portland Variety in Toronto last spring. Portland Variety is a very hip spot that I have no business being in but Adam made my lack of vibe disappear due to his open and fascinating answers to my questions. Adam’s coolness seems to rub off on anyone in the near vicinity. You feel like you are in the presence of a true artist. Adam is someone who creates amazing art out of seemingly nothing. He possesses all the tools and intelligence it takes to get something of real substance out into the world. To borrow a phrase from the wine world; Adam’s work’s got legs.

I was lucky enough to catch The Double when it was at the NAC a couple of years ago. My long lost theatre soul mate Marc Andre Charron suggested Adam and I meet and grab a drink after one of his shows. I was able to connect with Adam and his collaborator/friend Viktor Lukawski at the now closed and much beloved Oz Kafe. If you haven’t seen Viktor onstage, what the fuck are you doing?! He is incredible. What a talent. What a presence. Hopefully, someday I might be able to grab him for a profile on the blog. I had a great time shooting the shit with these two and was thoroughly inspired by their work.

Adam is an integral part of our Canadian theatre scene and he is so thoughtful, generous, and poised. I count myself lucky to have had this chat with him.

Name: Adam Paolozza

Age: 37

G: Describe your career in four words:

AP: movement. Gesture. Vision. Spontaneous.

G: What do you do?

AP: I am a theatre creator. I wear many hats. My bio says; performer, director, actor etc but first and foremost I am a theatre creator. I produce my own stuff and I run a company called Bad New Days. I’m the artistic Director and artistic producer of that. We are really dedicated to research and development and creation of original work. Sometimes that involves adaptations and working on scripts but we always bring an attitude of reinvention and renewal.

G: So you, like, upcycle theatre!

AP: Yeah, I just heard of that word a couple of days ago.

G: Upcycle?

AP: Yeah, I like it.

G: Why do you do it?

AP: I love it. I knew I wanted to do something in the arts when I was younger and I thought theatre was probably my best shot.

G: Why was that?

AP: I don’t know…I took an art class in grade 9 and the teacher really encouraged me to audition for thIS play and I always sort of enjoyed performing for my family when I was little….it sort of suddenly seemed like it could be a career, a vocation.

G: What made you fall in love with it?

AP: initially it was the rush of performing. Now it is still that but it is also inventing new worlds and inviting people to participate as a performer or an audience member, collaborators.

G: Where did you train?

AP: I did a lot of plays in high school. We weren’t an ‘arts high school’ but we had a strong program. Father Leo J. Austin Catholic secondary School in Whitby. Then I got into the acting program at Ryerson and I was there for three years. Then I went to Ecole Jacques Lecoq because I wanted to study mask, mine, movement, and clown.

G: Did you get into movement when you were in Ryerson or was it something you were drawn to after your time there?

AP: No, I think it was even before Ryerson. We did a production in high school that was kind of a devised creation in retrospect. I didn’t know what that meant then but it had a lot of music and movement and it was something we made up. I saw theatre as being able to hold music and movement and storytelling, all of that. That was when I realized what I wanted to do. I actually didn’t love some of the training at Ryerson because it was based in Stanislavsky and Chekhov which was not really my thing. But then there were teachers there that did Lecoq and those were my favourite classes. So I thought ‘ok that’s it’. It actually ended up being the perfect training.

G: It's nice because I find it gives you ownership over what you are doing. I didn’t like it in theatre school when they would essentially say ‘don’t worry you’ll get there.’ As if there was a right way to get there.

AP: Yeah, for me it seemed to be too focused on the inside. It felt like, as an actor, it doesn’t really matter if the audience knows how you are feeling. It matters what your character is feeling.

G: Do you have a favorite book about your craft?

AP: Yeah I actually just made a list for one of my students at Ryerson. I’ll give you a couple. One is called theatre in Revolution. I took to that book like it was my heritage, in a way. That’s a more historical book but one that’s more based in theory would be The Empty Space by Peter Brooks. Yoshi Oida’s books. I have a book of interviews with directors called Conversing With the Gods. There’s interviews with Robert Lepage, Peter Stein and all kinds of people. The Moving Body by Lecoq. One book I always go to is The Tricks of The Trade by Dario Fo. It’s a fantastic book.

Adam then speaks the title of the book in Italian…I love a good accent

G: Is there an experience that comes to mind that taught you a lot about your work?

AP: probably being at Lecoq. I knew that after Ryerson I didn’t want to wait around for auditions and to be hired by people. I knew I wanted to make my own work. Lecoq gave me the tools and the confidence to do that. It was definitely a turning point.

G: That must have been so empowering in a business that often leaves actors feeling insecure and questioning everything. Especially when you are young and still figuring out your skill set and what you are actually selling as a performer.

AP: Yeah...however I find the ‘why’ harder to answer. The 'how' is ... you leave Lecoq with a lot of know-how. You know you can do anything, you can make a show about this or that, but the older I get it I find it more difficult. What am I actually talking about or doing? I’m going through a period where I’m re-evaluating all that. I’m not doubting my tools or training but I’m looking to see if it can transform a bit.

G: Do you have a personal philosophy?

AP: One thing about when you are making stuff is: you have to see it to know if it can work. A big mantra is: collaboration. I’m really into not necessarily coming in with a finished idea depending on whether or not I’m leading the process. If I’m leading the process I want to lead people to be able to contribute something of their own to the project.

G: That’s really generous.

AP: Well it sounds generous but it can be seen as being a task master.

G: Well it sounds generous to me. My background is in theatre and opera and in the opera world you come in on day one and you know everything. If you don’t you are in trouble. That’s why I love the collaborative spirit of theatre.

G: What does your week look like?

AP: Well, this year I tried to make a five year plan. Now it involves checking my ical, which is a lifeline right now. I’m trying to think long term and set goals for when I want to get things done. My week involves contacting people about new works. Researching.

G: what does the research involve?

AP: Depending on the stage of the project it can involve reading about the subject, looking for imagines. When I’m teaching and leading a workshop I’ll try stuff out with students. Make it a training situation. There is a lot of admin stuff. Grant writing and I also like to have my own hours. I’ll take breaks to play music or smoke cigarettes. Eat. You know. Meetings are good. I have a lot of meetings with collaborators. It isn’t good to be in my apartment all day so I get out and meet with people.

G: What’s the hardest thing about what you do?

AP: The hardest thing is…I don’t know if this is a Canadian thing or if it’s like this everywhere but you can feel like you’re not building momentum. So as soon as something is done you can feel like you’re back to square one. That can be frustrating sometimes. And a hard thing is that things take so long. From inception to production can take three years sometimes. I did a show in the fall that I started working on in 2013 and there’s a part of it that I’m not sure I’m even into anymore but it’s taken this long so I have to reinvent the inspiration.

G: Yeah I’m working on my first collective creation and keeping that inspiration going for months and years at a time can be a challenge. You want to make sure it is still relevant to you and the audience.

AP: totally. It’s tough and there’s no method you can follow…but it can also be exciting. Waiting is hard. Say you’ve finished your two week workshop and then you might not get to it again for another year with everyone involved. You need to keep the inspiration, the energy, the drive alive during your down time which can be a challenge. It’s good to have a support network to keep you up.

G: Did you have any mentors? Who were/are they?

AP: theatre Smith- Gilmour in Toronto. The Lecoq school was a big mentorship, obviously.

G: Anyone in particular?

AP: A lot of the teachers but one in particular would be Jos Houbin. He was a big influence because he was great at physical comedy. I wanted to do that so I soaked up so much information from him while I was there. Chaplin and the Marx Brothers were big influences.

G: Who inspires you right now and why?

AP: Ravi Jain, my buddy. He is always creating opportunities for things to happen and bringing people together. That is inspiring. He is also a great improviser and actor so it is always inspiring to act with him. Dan Watson and Christina Serra. Dan went to Lecoq too so we have that in common. Their son has cerebral palsy and it has changed their work. They did a show about it with a man in his forties who has CP and it is inspiring. They are making work about it and making a difference for people with cerebral palsy and those who know someone with it. It’s really great, it affects the form of what they do so there is this formal thing happening in their work, this aesthetic thing. It’s exciting. I’m interested in the implications, whether they are social or political that come from the form that you use. That’s why I’m so into creating original stuff because the standard for theatre is psychological realism. The playwright driven, talking driven work, which can be fantastic but I feel like sometimes it’s hard to have something revolutionary if the form isn’t revolutionary. That’s why I’m interested in making original stuff.

G: Whose career do you wish you had and why?

AP: Ummm….maybe like Dario Fo. He is sort of this actor manager/model that goes back to comedia del arte. He’s Italian and lately I’ve been really interested in absorbing more of the Italian side of my heritage. He acts and he is politically engaged and he is keeping alive a tradition but he’s making new works. Pretty much anyone who can work all the time, that’s the career I want to have. Anyone who keeps getting opportunities… but I’m pretty happy with the career I have.

G: How do you prepare for a role?

AP: If I’m acting I’ll think about the background of the character and ask questions about who they are, and what they do, and what their life is like. Then I try to find a physical hook into the character. It could be a posture or a gesture that is their basic stance toward life and work from there. More and more I read the script first and see what situation the character is in and wok backwards from there. I like working from those two opposite ends of the spectrum. And then in performance I warm up physically and vocally. Exercise and try to eat well.

G: How do you usually feel after a show closes?

AP: It can be sad. You can get a bit depressed. Usually right after it’s over there’s this big rush but then you kind of…the older I get I feel I need closure. There needs to be rituals whatever that may be. That could be simply having a drink with the cast or a debrief. I try to make stuff that has a life that lasts longer than one go so there’s usually hope that I’ll do it again. That keeps the sadness away a bit. You try and tour stuff.

G: How do you prepare for an audition?

AP: I try to work on it a little bit every day for as many days that I have leading up to the audition. i do that so it becomes mechanical and then I try and do one thing. I try and make a choice and make it strong and if they don’t like it, well….I try to read the play and give the character some life, a good snapshot. Sometimes they just want to see you so I feel like if you make one strong choice that makes it easier.

G: What trick of the trade can you share?

AP: Plan early and think long term. One thing one of my teachers told me and I now tell my students is: remember the audience wants you to succeed. They don’t want you to suck or fail. They want to admire you and be surprised by you. They expect it is going to be ok so you just have to live up to that. You don’t have to convince them you just have to do your job and trust the work. Oh and slow down!

G: That’s so funny because directors keep saying ‘pick up the pace!’

AP: I think that’s a weird Canadian theatre thing, ‘the pace, the pace!’, but I think I see young actors who don’t know how to dissect the beats of a scene and I think you have to go slow to go fast. Oh especially when improvising, slow down. When you’re performing with someone think about what you’re doing less and focus on what you’re doing to your scene partner. What do you want from them? As a performer, what action are you doing to them and what reaction are you looking for? If you focus on the other person more you are in a more active mode, naturally.

G: What is your favorite piece of theatre right now?

AP: There’s a piece I saw when I was in school in France called Mnemonic by a British company called Complicite. It was a piece where we all though ‘wow! You can do that?!’ They devise their own work and it was so inspirational. That was a big show in my early life.

G: Is there something you are trying to say through your art?

AP: I think what I’m trying to do is create a picture or a vision that somehow gives the audience a bit of distance so they are looking at life one step removed. I'm trying to give the audience space to see how life unfolds. As if you’re from another species and you can go ‘oh that’s what we’re like!’ Just explore the human condition.

G: What is your perceived biggest failure?

AP: I guess…I remember once I auditioned for Cirque Du Soleil. I think I just planned the wrong thing for it. I did a mime piece but I did it very small and I realized afterwards that they are looking for people who can be simpler and bigger for their big circus audiences. I just thought ‘awh fuck.’ I have gone out for a lot of things where I’m not sure I want it but I go because I think it will be a good pay check or something…but I regret it….I think I should just not do it or go 100%.

G: What is your perceived biggest success?

AP: The Double, it really opened a lot of possibilities.

G: What’s your strongest skill?

AP: I think I know how to make people laugh. It’s good in personal relationships too.

G: What do you wish you were better at?

AP: Admitting when I don’t know something and being ok with not knowing.

G: What is your actor per peeve?

AP: When actors want to talk their way out of trying something. I know I can do that when I’m acting but then as a director when I see it happening with my actors…I know you need to be vulnerable as an actor and actors want to be vulnerable in their mind but sometimes it’s hard to be vulnerable in their soul or their body. It is a pet peeve but when I’m directing I treat it more like a challenge.

G: What is your actor pat rave?

AP: I love stuff that goes to an extreme. That doesn’t mean loud or violent but I love things that are so unabashedly what it is that it just goes for it! It could be an actor playing a character, or the staging, lights, anything. I love pushing things as far as they can go so you aren’t being complacent. I like pushing through clichés.

G: Why do people need theatre?

AP: I don’t think it will ever die. It is a pretty basic human activity of coming together and sharing stories. It’s been around forever. I think, in the beginning, it was probably dance, and music, and theatre all together but we have compartmentalized them. I think it’s like dreaming, you will die once you stop doing it.

G: What theatre secret do you have to divulge?

AP: You don’t always know what you’re doing or what things are about. Just try and be honest in the search.

G:What’s the craziest thing to happen to you onstage?

AP: The first show I ever did was A Midsummer Night’s Dream and there was a sword fight and I had a cough and just had a coughing attack in the middle of a scene. I had to just skip to the end of the scene.

G: Anything else you want to add?

AP: Who is your projected audience?

G: Um, theatre folk, anyone who has an interest.

AP: I guess for students I would say to practice as much as you can and get in the space as much as you can. If you do script based work; get people together to just read scripts. I think one thing that is lacking in Canadian theare is that the other arts have things that are proper to them. Painters have brushes and canvas and express themselves through that, same thing for music, dance is trickier but with theatre it can sometimes be invaded by film techniques. I’m interested in what it proper to theatre. Theatrical thoughts. That’s how theatre will never die. Not that anything is wrong with hybrid but that’s what I’m interested in.