Backstage: A Self-Interview

By Uy Pham

Writer’s notes: This is not an actual interview, but rather a self-reflection on my experiences with the Theatre Temp program. Looking back, I think I’m very lucky to have fallen in love with the stage, and so it would only be right for me to share a bit of my story with others. I love theatre, and it would be wonderful if I could get more people to feel that love.

Would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Yeah, of course. My name is Uy Pham, and I’m a grade 12 student at Templeton. I moved to Canada from Vietnam with my family in 2020. I have been part of Templeton’s theatre program for a year and have acted in a couple of shows.

I guess we should start from the beginning. What sparked your interest in theatre?

Well, I for sure didn’t intend for it to happen. Before going into grade 11, I thought I was going to take a different elective art course, but it was canceled. My counselor then put me in a Drama 11 class, because that was my alternative course, and I just didn’t really care enough to change it. I had never acted before in my life, plus I have always been a shy kid who was terrified of doing things in front of people, so I didn’t come into the class with many expectations. But my friends and Ms. Zambrano, our acting teacher, helped me out a lot, and I eased into it pretty easily. It didn’t come right away, but after doing a few acting assignments, I started thinking: “Hey, maybe this whole thing about being on stage isn’t that bad after all.”

So how did you join Theatre Temp?

I actually hesitated quite a bit before deciding to join Theatre Temp, even though I was beginning to get more comfortable with theatre. I guess I wasn’t quite comfortable enough yet. It took some persuading from my friends for me to start coming to the theatre company meetings on Mondays after school.

Did you start acting in shows right away?

No. My first job was being part of this group called the front-of-house crew for a show called “Check Please”. Ok, so I think I should explain how Theatre Temp works. There are many different departments that are in charge of different things when we do a show. You have people in charge of costumes, hair & makeup, set, lighting, sound, props, etc., and the cast has stage managers to help with schedules and to make sure everything’s on track during rehearsals. Anyways, the job of front-of-house people is to basically greet the audience when they come in on show nights, hand out programs, show them where the washrooms are, those kinds of things.

So when did you start acting in shows?

I joined Theatre Temp a bit too late to audition for “Check Please”. Besides, I was still really scared of acting in front of people. But after “Check Please” was done, we started work on the next show, “Impact”, and I found enough courage to audition for that show. I was cast in a small role and we began rehearsals. It was such an enlightening experience. I was introduced to how the process works, from the first read-through to the dress rehearsal and opening night. We were lucky to have a professional director come in to do the show with us, and I learned so much from my castmates.

And then you were in another show after that, right?

Yeah. It was called “Boxed: The Play”. That show was, um, a bit unconventional, but in the best way possible.

I know you’ve probably been asked this by other people, but what does standing on stage feel like?

Well, it’s actually a lot less scary than I used to think. The really bad freak outs come backstage, right before I have to go up for my scenes, but once I’m up there, my mind would be too focused on the character for me to feel really nervous.

What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learnt from Theatre Temp?

It’s hard to say. There are so many valuable things I’ve learnt from my time in Theatre Temp, but one thing that I think stands out is how much creative power we have as a group. And I do mean as a group, because what you see on stage is only the tip of the iceberg. Behind that is a whole lot of people who’ve dedicated tremendous time and effort to theatre. None of our shows would be possible without them, and to see all of that hard work come to fruition is just incredible. Same goes for acting too. Before getting involve in theatre, I used to think acting was a one-person game, that the most important thing was to take the spotlight for yourself. Now that I have done some acting, I know I was horribly wrong. Acting is very much a team effort. The only way to make a scene believable is to really interact with your scene partners and connect with them, because that’s how it works in real life. Doing great theatre means giving your energy and creativity to the common goal of making art, and that’s beautiful.