Clown Fish tells the story of Paul Tedeschini’s journey through life as an actor moving across Canada and navigating various emotional challenges.
The show is being performed by Tedeschini at Nanaimo’s OV Arts Centre through March 1st. He visited the CHLY studio, along with the show’s director Nicolle Nattrass, to speak about it.
Clown Fish is one of a series of shows being put on by Western Edge Theatre that broach themes of men’s mental health.
“My journey involves my journey through my own struggles and challenges with my own mental health and the different experiences I’ve had in dealing with it and working through it and sharing that journey is a big part of the show,” said Tedeschini.
Alongside the emotional journey, Tedeschini’s story also contains a journey across the Canadian landscape, moving from Edmonton, to Toronto, to Vancouver Island. He says there’s a link between those moves and his emotional state.
“No matter what career you’re pursuing in Toronto…it’s a machine, it’s a career. People go there for their careers, of course, and what that does to an individual, or what it did to me and how it affected me…and then we moved to the island in 2007 and literally, to a completely different world.”
Tedeschini says there’s a level of solidarity amongst the theatre community in Nanaimo that stands out from the experience in bigger cities.
“There’s a comradery, there’s a support,there is a lack of competition and…ladder climbing here,” he said. “It’s more like you just wanna do good work. And the most important thing is to support each other and know that everyone’s just trying to do the best they can, and that support is the most important thing.”
Nattrass, and Tedeschini have been married since 2006. Nattrass says this is the first time she’s directed her husband on stage.
“ I’ve never worked with Paul as a director before,” she said. “It’s really interesting to be working and supporting his voice and his perspective.”
“When Paul and I met in Toronto…one of the pieces of us falling in love with each other was our respect for our creative work…you have a foundation where it’s actually built in respect for this person’s work.”
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