The Montreal Interviews: Andrew Shaver

While our “10 questions” interview series is on its year-end hiatus, we are pleased to present a short interview series by Praxis Theatre Associate Artist Greta Papageorgiu: The Montreal Interviews. Enjoy!

1) What does Montreal mean to you?
All the greatness of New York and Paris minus the idiots and sharp elbows.

2) Do you feel that SaBooge Theatre is currently living up to the spirit of its mission statement?
That’s a day-to-day query. Today; sure do.

3) You’ve studied clown in Paris at Lecoq as well as with Fusetti in Italy. Are French clowns different from Italian clowns?
The French clowns must be left to simmer for a minimum of 90 minutes while the Italians can be eaten straight off the vine.

4) How does your clown training inform your approach to acting?
It created a capacity for failure and a desire to really, actually play.

5) Having had the opportunity to tour a few of your shows, what is the strangest or funniest thing that has happened to the company or one of your shows along the way?
Having the American authorities confiscate rice-filled juggling balls at the Minnesota border.

6) What would you say to someone who told you “theatre is dead”?
What a shame; my buddies have a show coming up.

7) What would you like to see more of in Canadian theatre?
The undead.

8) Your production of The Dishwashers (Sidemart Theatrical Grocery Production) took place in the basement of a bar. How did the location affect the production?
It made every difference. I had no intentions of doing it elsewhere; the show belongs in the basement of a restaurant. Even if the economics of a 25-seat house boggle the mind.

9) What’s next for SaBooge?
Babies.

10) If you had a $100,000 no-strings-attached production budget, what would you do with it?
Produce the show in Rio. Then make the movie. In Helsinki.