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DARYL CLORAN Our Country’s GoodBorn: Sarnia Came to Toronto: 1998 Trained: Queen’s University, Canadian Film Centre Career
highlights: After nominations for Dora Awards (fforward) and the Australian Fringe prize (House), he came on strong with I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe and Cloud Nine. What: Our Country’s Good, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play-within-a-play set in an 18th-century Australian penal colony (details, page 56). Buzz: After two successful years of modest works, Cloran tackles a challenging, literate script with a large cast. And the more popular venue means the stakes are higher.EDWARD ROY Pains Of Youth
Born: Montreal Came to Toronto: 1983 Trained: Dome Theatre School (Montreal) Career highlights: He’s won awards (The Other Side Of The Closet, A Secret Life), heads a theatre company (Topological) and is company dramaturge at Buddies. What: Pains Of Youth, German playwright Ferdinand Bruckner’s look at young people dealing with post-first-world-war angst as they clamber toward adulthood (details, page 57). Buzz: Given Roy’s own sharp-edged scripts about troubled teens, this Euro classic should resonate with contemporary audiences. The strong ensemble cast won’t hurt either.@! BOXTEXTBOLD-1ST -THESANS 8:
Beginnings
First theatre memory?daryl cloran: In grade three, I wrote a stage version of the TV show The Greatest American Hero that I performed for my class. It was my first and last attempt at writing.
edward roy: Performing at age four with my foster parents’ C&W band. That’s theatre, isn’t it?What made you want to get involved in theatre?cloran: I love telling stories.
roy: It’s one of the few jobs that has no definite retirement age.Major influences or mentors?cloran: Neil Munro, Robert Lepage, Sarah Stanley, Daniel Brooks, Dennis Garnhum and other directors who take creative risks but tell a good story.
roy: Martha Graham, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, David Bowie and Abbott and Costello.First show you directed?cloran: Brad Fraser’s Unidentified Human Remains And The True Nature Of Love. Because of the cast’s nervousness about the nudity, we did an entire rehearsal * me included * in our underwear.
roy: Bryden MacDonald’s Remission (1985), a good experience except for the time when Bryden threatened to kill me.
The WorkWhat’s your show about – in one sentence?cloran: Finding hope in adversity, finding love in despair and finding yourself in the middle of nowhere.
roy: The emotional upheaval we face when approaching the daunting challenge of adulthood.What’s your main directorial challenge in this piece?cloran: 11 actors in the Tarragon Extra Space. I need a big shoehorn to squeeze them all in.
roy: Not getting in the actors’ way.Describe your directing style.cloran: Creative catalyst.
roy: Cruel but fair.Dream project as a director?cloran: Anything that isn’t funded by my rent money.
roy: Reconstructing the universe.You also act. As director, what notes would you give the actor in you?cloran: “Stop kidding yourself.”
roy: “Service the play, not your ego.”Last play you saw and loved?cloran: Soulpepper’s Platonov. Diego Matamoros * wow!
roy: The Cherry Blossom Princess at Japan’s National Kabuki Theatre. It reminded me of the art form’s theatricality and artifice.
The CareerWorst part-time job?cloran: I spent a summer at the top of a waterslide saying, “Go… go!… stop screwing around on the slide or I’ll kick you out of the park! Go… go!”
roy: Grounds boy at a summer camp. Every day I scrubbed 150 toilets.Best break in theatre?cloran: I’m probably in the middle of it right now.
roy: Meeting Sky Gilbert.Have you been enticed to work in film/TV?cloran: When not directing theatre, I direct interactive digital video projects for Trapeze Media.
roy: I’ve acted in both, and might direct or act in the future * when I decide to sell my soul.What do your parents think of your profession?cloran: They’re good about trudging to Toronto when I direct a show. But I think they’re secretly waiting for me to admit this is a phase and I really want to be a doctor.
roy: They weren’t around to give their approval. Or get in the way.
Second ThoughtsIf you weren’t in theatre, what would you like to be?cloran: Underwater photographer.
roy: A painter or a psychologist.Worst stage experience?cloran: Falling off the stage of Kingston’s Grand and landing in the orchestra pit. I couldn’t sit for a week.
roy: I’ve had my hair pulled, been screamed at and walked out on during dress rehearsals and had actors come to opening night drunk.Pleasures and piss-offs about the T.O. theatre scene?cloran: SummerWorks showed me that there are a million talented young theatre artists here. It’s very supportive.
roy: It’s a pleasure doing what I love. I don’t like people judging a show before seeing it, after reading reviews.Future theatre plans?cloran: Directing a new Claudia Dey play at Rhubarb!, Mojo at TPM and assistant directing Timothy Findley’s The Trials Of Ezra Pound at Stratford. Then lots of sleep.
roy: Working with Japan’s Kagebushi Theatre and developing The Golden Thug for Topological.
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
glenns@nowtoronto.com
DARYL CLORAN Our Country’s Good