Vancouver’s theatre season is about to explode big time. There are a number of ginormous festivals taking place over the next couple weeks (including the Neanderthal Arts Festival) and some of the plays — gasp — are about gay things. GAY THINGS. I know. Shocking.
Playwright Dave Deveau decided to sit down on me with me this week to tell us about his latest baby-stealing play, Tiny Replicas.
UYA: Who the hell are you and what do you do?
I’m Dave Deveau, I’m a playwright/producer who created queer work that has appeal to a broader audience as well – my play Nelly Boy happened last November and just received a Jessie Nomination. I’m also a local queer event organizer – you may be familiar with my East Van events Queer Bash, Steer and Shindig, and last year’s Ball cycle. And of course all of our upcoming Pride goodness: the Pride Ball, the ever-sexy Iron Rod and the ultimate fusion of East Van’s two hottest parties: SpitBash!
UYA: When I first heard that Tiny Replicas was the name of your new play, I immediately thought of dildos and then voodoo. Is Tiny Replicas about a wronged sex-store worker with a penchant for black magic and revenge?
No, Sean, not everything can read so much like your memoirs. Tiny Replicas is about a gay couple who want to have a baby, but neither of them have wombs, so they need to get some ladies involved. But of course, when you have five people working toward bringing a new life into the world, obviously feelings will get hurt, egos will factor in – hell, put five queers in a room on any occasion and things are bound to get colourful!
UYA: “Women don’t have to justify wanting their own. And I don’t either. I want a baby.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that this week, but most of the homos I know are talking about getting a 20-year-old boyfriend. Explain.
When we talk about having kids, it’s automatically considered a natural human longing for women, but we kind of cut men out of that equation. Yes, fine, I won’t feel a kid growing inside me (though I don’t know, that movie Junior sure looked convincing…) but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have the same longing to procreate, and to parent!
Besides, how could I possibly be on the hunt for a younger twink boyfriend. Have you seen my fiancé? He’s a hottie.
UYA: “Thirty Below Theatre in association with Zee Zee Theatre presents TINYREPLICAS by Dave Deveau part of the Neanderthal Arts Festival”…. It’s like reading the production credits to a pop-rap collaboration. How important is collaboration for your work?
Collaboration is the only way to get things done in theatre. Especially with all the provincial arts cuts! There is literally no money to go around, so everyone cobbles together what they can to make shit happen. It’s convenient that my soon-to-be-husband is a brilliant director who inherently understands my work and does a beautiful job of crafting it onstage, so we can fight the good fight together and hopefully carve out that bit of the community in our image.
Besides, like many of us, Sean, I’m sure you’ve been involved in a collaboration or two if you catch my drift.
UYA: When and where can people see Tiny Replicas? And how much is it going to cost them?
Tiny Replicas opens on Wednesday, July 21 at The Cultch (The Vancouver East Cultural Centre at 1895 Venables St, just off Commercial Dr) and then plays at odd times, because it’s a festival. July 22 at 9:30, July 23 at 7, July 24 at 4:30 and July 25 at 7. Tickets are $15 plus some service charges, so it’s going to be a whopping $18. That’s probably the cheapest theatre ticket you’ll find in town. And let me tell you, the other shows in town, good as they are, don’t have the kind of man-on-man sexiness that we do.
UYA:Anything else we need to know?
Zee Zee Theatre, my fiancé’s company, is just gearing up for our next show. It’s my latest play, called My Funny Valentine, which explores the murder of Lawrence King, the 15-year-old Californian student who was shot after asking a boy to be his valentine in 2008. The trial is still pending. So keep an eye out for that one in March. It sounds bleak, but it’s not – I guarantee you’ll laugh out loud at least once…. Though not as much as you’ll laugh at Tiny Replicas. Well, laugh and cross your legs….
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