荔枝视频

Jovanni Sy, 惭贵础鈥�23, remembers the first time he blew up his life. 

Working as an engineer in the private sector, he realized he wasn鈥檛 well-suited for an engineer鈥檚 life. Someone else might have ignored their true calling, but not Sy.

鈥淚 decided to change professions,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was doing community theatre in my personal time, and I preferred performing. The kids are saying 鈥榖low up your life鈥� and that was the first time for me, leaving engineering.鈥�

Three decades later, Sy returned to school for a  in the  at the 荔枝视频, years into a career that took him across Canada and overseas as an actor, director, playwright and artistic director. It was an interest in teaching that brought him and his wife back to post-secondary learning. 

They joined the class of 2020, entering during the COVID-19 pandemic that created different learning environments for everyone. Despite that, Sy says the timing was perfect because professionally, he would have been stuck with nothing to do since theatres were closed. 

鈥淭he program saved me in a lot of ways,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was languishing, but being back in class brought structure and purpose and community, most of all. My two years were two of the most creative of my life.鈥� 

is an associate professor in  in the Faculty of Arts and acted as Sy鈥檚 advisor. They were peers previously, touring together as actors for nearly five years.

鈥淢y role was to give him feedback and encourage him to stretch farther, disrupt his process and get messy,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was on his shoulder to remind him why he was here and what he was interested in pursuing鈥攊t is really valuable to have somebody bring an outsider perspective to your work.鈥� 

The Stratford stage

During his MFA, Sy wrote two full-length plays and also co-wrote (with his wife Leanna Brodie) Salesman in China, which was produced at the 2024 Stratford Festival. His MFA thesis project, , which he wrote and directed while at U荔枝视频, will see its professional world premiere at . 

鈥淚 went in with the intention of adapting a Restoration comedy but the more I tinkered with it, the more I ended up with a new play,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 call it my accidental play. I didn鈥檛 intend to write a new play while doing my thesis, but it was a weird and happy circumstance.鈥�

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be happier to have Tao get its premiere there (Stratford), especially since it will be the final season for Antoni Cimolino, the outgoing artistic director鈥擨 owe him a lot for his faith and support.鈥�

Sy was challenged during his time at U荔枝视频, in both the development of his thesis and the constraints the pandemic brought with it. He was originally going to develop an adaptation of a play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht but was encouraged to try comedy instead.

Brubaker shares that Sy has created something 鈥榩rofoundly unique鈥� with Tao. 鈥淗e has created something like none other. I think it will be a real legacy piece that has a global reach 鈥� it鈥檚 fitting that it will be premiered on the Stratford stage.鈥�

Masking and distancing and Omicron

Getting there wasn鈥檛 easy. Right after production in 荔枝视频, the Omicron variant hit its peak and created complete chaos for theatre 鈥� again. Sy thought there would be no live performance, but Brubaker and former department chair, April Viczko, fought to make sure Sy would have an audience. 

鈥淟ive performance is crucible. You can鈥檛 stop and start 鈥� that is the dynamic of live theatre,鈥� says Brubaker. 鈥淵ou have Plan A, B, C and in this case, many more. But theatre is a shared social practice and doesn鈥檛 exist without an audience, so it was critical that it was performed live in front of a live audience 鈥� even if they were spread out and masked.鈥�

Sy says that rehearsals were 鈥榓 circus鈥� because they never had the same people together. It wasn鈥檛 until six days before the first public performance that his cast of 21 was in the same room. 

鈥淚t was a crazy time, but it was a great experience to feel like I am unflappable,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you deal with that uncertainty and improvisation, about literally everything, it gives me confidence that no matter what, you can always deal with it.鈥�

U荔枝视频鈥檚 program was a draw for Sy because of people like Brubaker on the faculty.

鈥淭he faculty are active practitioners, which is not the case in a lot of theatre programs in Canada. There is a divide between academia and artists who practice,鈥� Sy says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not uncommon for people with mature practices to come to U荔枝视频, because the faculty is so great. They get it.鈥�

Now, Sy is enjoying what he calls his 鈥榯hird act,鈥� with a flourishing freelance career alongside teaching. 

鈥淭he arts are the soul of our society 鈥� a living testimony of who we are and what we stand for,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 love sharing. I have learned a lot, and now it鈥檚 my time to pass it on.鈥�