The Resident Company and Evan Vipond

2012 marks the introduction of a new program to the Paprika Festival, called the Resident Company.  The Resident company brings together independent artists, actors, directors, designers and stage managers and casts them in a play previously produced in the festival.

This year's show is Always Wear a Rubber by Evan Vipond.  Evan has worked a lot in the Toronto theatre community since participating in the 2009 Paprika Festival and came back to do an alumni panel with us last year.  In December, Evan was nice enough to answer some questions for us about his experiences with the festival and what it is like to be back.

What year did you participate in Paprika? What was your show, and who was your mentor?

I participated in the 2009 Paprika Festival and my professional mentor was Adam Lazarus.

What have you been up to since being involved in Paprika?

Following the Paprika Festival in March 2009, Always Wear A Rubber was selected to be in the Fringe Festival's Youth Showcase in July 2009. The following year I was involved in numerous theatre projects, as playwright, assistant director and performer, at York University and downtown Toronto. In the spring of 2010, I successfully completed my BAH in Theatre Studies and Playwriting from York. Since graduating, I have participated in various projects, such as Sky Gilbert's Kitchen Party Nervous Breakdown Reality TV Show in June 2010. Later that summer I participated in the SummerWorks Leadership Intensive Program (SLIP). In the fall of 2010, I became a member of Buddies in Bad Times' Young Creator's Unit. Over five months I wrote and developed a one-person show, The Border, which I then performed at the 2011 Rhubarb Festival. This year I will be participating in the one-to-one performances at the Rhubarb Festival in February 2012. Check out Deviant Productions on facebook to stay up to date with current and upcoming work!

How do you think Paprika prepared you for the work you've gone on to do?

Paprika helped prepare me for the festival setting (Fringe, Rhubarb). The greatest learning opportunities, I've found, come from working with the professional mentors, such as Adam Lazarus and Ruth Madoc-Jones (the mentor for the Resident Company). They are so generous with their time and sharing their knowledge and experiences.

You're now having your original Paprika play produced by Paprika's resident company for the 2012 festival.  How does it feel to go back and start working on something you haven't looked at for a while.

It's a really fantastic opportunity I've been given to redevelop the piece, this time as playwright-in-residence. It is a play that holds great importance to me both artistically and politically. I have always had the desire to revisit the play and develop it further, which I now have the opportunity to do. I think this is a long-term project for me, and I hope to continue to develop and lengthen the play as the ex-gay movement is a subject of great importance that is rarely explored or critiqued.

I know it was only a few years ago that Always Wear a Rubber was in the festival, but when you go back and look at the script, do you find that you've changed a lot as an artist since you first wrote the script?

It's difficult to say in which ways I have changed as an artist. I think I have certainly grown, and continue to grow, as an artist. I think my writing has improved significantly, particularly in regards to character and story development. When I was originally involved in Paprika, I considered myself an actor who was dabbling in playwriting. I have grown more confident as a writer/creator, and now consider myself a playwright and performer. My understanding of myself as an artist has also changed. I now consider myself a queer and feminist artist as these are the lenses through which I create my work.

How do you think this 2012 Resident company production will differ from the original production?

The 2012 Resident Company production will differ in some ways from the 2009 Paprika production. The original script was used as the starting point for this production, and while much of the original work is still present, a lot of new material has been added. The play will be a little longer and the characters, particularly the Leader, are more developed. While it remains a comical satire, I think the piece has become a lot darker. All of the cast members are new to the production so the chemistry between the characters is different as each actor has his or her own interpretation of the character. It's really exciting for me to see these characters being embodied and interpreted in a different way. As well, the original production was smaller-scale. I originally applied to the Paprika Festival in 2009 as the playwright and director (and performed the role of Michelle), and we didn't have a production team. The Resident Company has its own production team (lighting, sound, set and costumer design) as well as a director! We are just finishing up the workshop process at the end of December, which means the script is still being develop. A lot could change during the rehearsal process, particularly in regards to production elements, so I won't know what the new production will look like until opening night!