PLAYDAY MAYDAY

PLAYDAY MAYDAY is a tale about a group of adults rediscovering
the joy and nostalgia of games from their childhood. Five friends
reunite in their hometown, but after a freak accident, find themselves
in another world where games come alive and the lines blur between
real life and gameplay. From Twister to Twenty Questions,
PLAYDAY MAYDAY touches on references and reboots, but
focuses more on how friends and family once engaged with one another.

The Montreal Gazette raved that PLAYDAY MAYDAY is "Hilarious...
a journey through a maze of surreal fantasies, seeded with great
running gags which eventually tie the whole zany package together."

"PLAYDAY MAYDAY is a little more mature than some of our past shows.
We have grown to embrace our theatre backgrounds and have come up with
the tightest narrative of any show we've done before." said Uncalled For
writer/performer, Matt Goldberg. "But it's still 100% the Uncalled For people
have come to expect. Our voice, our craziness, our energy."

Performing together for over 15 years, Uncalled For is comprised of five
writer-performers and one designer/production manager. The Award-winning
troupe is also Canadian Comedy Award-nominated and has played the
stages of Just For Laughs, Next Stage Theatre Festival, Chicago Sketch
Comedy Festival and many more.

Uncalled For presents
PLAYDAY MAYDAY
Created by Matt Goldberg, Mike Hughes, Dan Jeannotte,
Jacky Lalonde, Colin Munch, Anders Yates
Performed by Matt Goldberg, Caitlin Howden, Mike Hughes, Colin Munch & Anders Yates
Designed by Jacky Lalonde
November 24 - December 4, 2016
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue, Toronto
Opening Night: November 24, 2016
Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30pm • Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2pm
(except for Nov. 26)
Ticket Prices $25 before October 19, then $30. (+ HST and fees)
and can be purchased in person at the Theatre Passe Muraille Box Office,
by calling 416 504 7529 or online at
https://torontosketchfest.secure.force.com/ticket and www.artsboxoffice.ca

For more information visit: www.WeAreUncalledFor.com

INTERVIEW WITH PERFORMER 
ANDERS YATES

DB How does being an LBGTQ performer/artist affect your approach to writing and acting?

AY It's hard to say how being queer affects my approach to writing and acting, since it's not as if I have any experiences not being queer while writing or acting. As far as writing, it certainly impacts the types of stories that I'm interested in telling. I like to try and find opportunities for my characters to operate outside of the confines of traditional gender roles wherever possible. When it comes to acting, I think that growing up in the closet taught me how to have a bit of a secret internal life, and while that was hard, I think it has served me well in giving depth to the characters I portray.

DB Does the current Uncalled For (Playday Mayday) show include any LGBTQ issues?

AY Playday Mayday does touch on some LGBTQ issues. The show features one scene of forbidden love between two men expressed in the most stilted, wooden way possible, which somehow makes it even more touching that these characters who have such difficulty communicating are able to say these things to one another at all. The show as a whole deals with all sorts of games that we used to play as children, and so one portion is all about a boy who likes to pretend to be a Fashion Princess. The scene isn't about that being an unconventional game for a boy to play, it's just presented as his favourite game, plain and simple. The comedy comes from watching the creation of this fantastical fashion monarchy rather than the reversal of gender roles.

DB As a sketch comedy/improv (etc) artist do you include specific issues that interest you personally, and how do they manifest themselves as jokes/comic moments? - and -  Can you give me a brief description and example (perhaps 3-5 lines) of some of your comic work? 

AY The issues that interest me personally are always part of my comedy because I'm prone to take my inspiration from the things that I'm constantly thinking about anyway. If there's something that I can't stop thinking about, I always want to try and see how I can poke fun at it. A lot of the time though I'll simply be inspired by a fun contrast. I knew for this show we wanted to tackle as many types of games as possible, and I really wanted to find the highest stakes situation for the silliest game, and so I came up with a scene about a child trying to reconcile with her father on his deathbed but being forced to do it in 20 questions.

DB How is the current Uncalled For show (Playday Mayday) challenging you as a performer and could you briefly describe your part in the production?

AY Playday Mayday has been challenging to me as a performer because we approached this show wanting to look at childhood games while casting ourselves in the show. Having us as adults playing children's games forced us to try to decide: should we portray our characters as children who happen to have larger bodies, or adults with a child-like nature? It's a big difference in the approach to performance. The end result was a bit of a compromise, since we all play so many characters, but we leaned more toward being playful adults, since we wanted to remind ourselves and our audience how to recapture the joy of playing, and not make it feel like the only way to enjoy these games was to be a kid.