Residency spotlight: Conversation with Adam Lazarus
March 23, 2026
“The difference between Versus and my other shows is that this one is a celebration of community while the other ones were me trying to punch people in the face to say, “wake up.” Rather, it’s me saying, “we’re all like this guy, it’s tough, so let’s keep walking forward together.”
Residency Artist, Adam Lazarus, is currently preparing for an epic seven-week intensive development phase on his next mindbending vision: Versus.
Versus has received support from The Theatre Centre, Canada Council, OAC, TAC and a significant investment from NAC’s Creation Fund, to bring together a team of award-winning creators to help design the world. This work will help inform and culminate the premiere presentation taking place in November 2026 (look out for our announcement coming this summer)!
A bit more about the show:
It’s Gerald’s birthday and he doesn’t want to go to his party – everything is just too much. So maybe could you help him with breakfast? Can someone else walk his dog? He soon finds himself at the emergency dentist and from the first inhale of nitrous, Gerald and the audience are on a ride through the comedy, grief, horror, and joy of being alive and trying to make it to your own birthday party. Cake included.
Our marketing and communications Intern, Eleanor Yuneun Park, had a chat with Adam to see how he’s feeling leading up to working on the show!
The Theatre Centre (TC): What does it mean to you to be creating Versus at The Theatre Centre?
Adam Lazarus (AL): The Theatre Centre has always been a massive proponent of my work. I’ve worked with Aislinn for over a decade, and she and everyone at the centre always begins with a question: “what do you need?” When I was first asked this, it was a question that I felt was really unheard of. Working at The Theatre Centre is also really collaborative, so the bottom line is that I love working there. There’s so much freedom that I’m offered to be in that space with support.
TC: Your past work such as Daughter, for example, reflected the political zeitgeist at the time. Does Versus aim to do so similarly with the current moment?
AL: As an artist, I don’t set out to capture the zeitgeist. I’m a human being living in the world and I am part of the zeitgeist. Daughter was written when I was watching things happen around me, my friends, family, and politicians and I reacted to it with a piece of theatre. So it’s important to distinguish that it’s never me thinking about what would be hot right now and trying to capture that, because that wouldn’t be authentic.
Daughter at Latitude Festival photo by Richard Gray
TC: What inspired Versus?
AL: It came out of a very intense moment of time for me when my father passed, my mother had a stroke, and my sister went through a nasty divorce. My hair went white, and there was a global pandemic. I remember thinking, “what the fuck is going on” and then realizing, “oh, everyone feels like the world is ending. How do I have a good life, and be in this moment?”
We’re always expected to do more like to be good parents and be really smart all the time, but we’re just dumb humans and struggling to do the best we can — some of us with more empathy than others. When I describe the show to people, I ask them if they have a feeling like a baseline tremor. Maybe it’s a baseline diagnosable anxiety or depression, maybe it’s just the tremor of the universe right now. Everyone nods and I’ll say that’s what my play is, because nobody seems to be living right while claiming that they’re living right.
What do I do about the malaise of the world ending? How do I know how to behave right now? And it can be complicated when you have friends who align themselves with certain politics and you realize you don’t agree with them and that the world is not set up for me to be in the same room as you to talk about that and still hug you at the end.
And fighting isn’t the correct mode. I can fight and I will only end up hurting my back, so that’s why the show is called Versus. This guy wakes up and he’s just not approaching anything correctly and catastrophizes every situation, and he also lacks the tools to feel deeply or have a good cry or see himself as a good human. So he’s defensive, angry, and frustrated.
The difference between Versus and my other shows is that this one is a celebration of community while the other ones were me trying to punch people in the face to say, “wake up.” Rather, it’s me saying, “we’re all like this guy, it’s tough, so let’s keep walking forward together.”
“The words — “you just keep going” — are why I think we’re here. What else are we doing here?
We don’t have an answer.
Let’s just keep going together.”
Daughter at The Theatre Centre Photo by John Lauener
TC: It seems like it’s natural for you to have made the distinction that way in your approach now compared to 10 years ago when, as you said, it was a punch in the face. That’s when people could take that and now it’s a different, tougher climate.
AL: I couldn’t agree more. Now, if you tell me I’m a bad person one more time, I’m
going to leave.
TC: You mentioned the pandemic earlier. How long has Versus been in the making?
AL: It’s very different from its initial form. Pre-pandemic, it was a dinner party structure to think about two things: the question of “do you know how to be” and the tremor. The Theatre Centre really helped me keep it alive through the pandemic, and they supported me through my very early residency exploration period. Once the pandemic closed, I wrote a draft, put it up in Summerworks to see if it had legs, and it did. So we then successfully went for the National Creation Fund, which allows people to be in the space thinking about the art.
Versus Summerworks Workshop Presentation at The Theatre Centre
Photo by Henry Chan
Adam at The Theatre Centre’s 2025 Residency Showing
Photo by Duane Cole
TC: How I understand Versus from what you’ve described so far is this kind of tense battle between life responsibilities and self-preservation. Do you feel like you’ve reached a necessary conclusion with this battle between the two through creating Versus?
AL: It’s interesting that you put it in that dichotomy, I love it. I think it’s a life’s journey, just like being an anti-racist, anti-misogynist is a life’s journey you continue to learn about. I do think Versus is a love letter to an audience, and telling them, “This is going to be so fun, come to the theatre.” To me, that is the antidote for the general feeling we all have. If you ask someone how they got through the hardships in their lives, every person would say that you just have to keep going. The words — “you just keep going” — are why I think we’re here. What else are we doing here? We don’t have an answer. Let’s just keep going together.
And we’re still in the process of designing this, but everyone at the end of the show would come on stage and we’d have a party together, sharing cake and dancing to a band. Because what the hell else are we all here for? I don’t know. So my conclusion to your question is community, being together, and listening.
Nehal El-Hadi, d’bi. young anitafrika, and Adam Lazarus at the 2025 Residency Artist Intake. Photo by Jae Yang.
The Theatre Centre is delighted to invite you to its fundraising reception and performance – an exclusive first preview of Versus, on Thursday, May 21, 2026. All proceeds go towards supporting The Theatre Centre as a live-arts incubator and community hub.
The Theatre Centre’s Residency Program is generously supported by:
