Unnecessary Farce. Playing as undercover cop Eric Sheridan, Yela will be in a flurry of slammed doors, undressing and slapstick humor in this comedy written by Paul Slade Smith. This is the young actor’s first debut on a mainstream stage. However, he has many stories from working in both DIY theater and his own projects. Off the Cuff met with Yela to talk about his unique acting career.
Is this your first big role for a production company in Milwaukee?
I moved away when I was 18 from Milwaukee to Minnesota, to the U of M before I dropped out and started making weird art stuff in abandoned buildings. Then I came back in 2012, so I’ve been here almost seven years as an adult. I’ve worked with a ton of companies in town, but I’d say the Chamber Theatre is my largest contract to date. It’s the biggest stage I’ve been on. I’ve actually worked on the Cabot Stage at the Broadway Theatre Center before, but this is my first time with a company directly affiliated with that building.
What is your background in Milwaukee theatre?
At my company Quasimondo Physical Theatre, we make original theater inspired by source material. For example, we did an adaptation of Animal Farm several years at a farm in Greenfield. I’m a founding member and I started that company seven years ago when I came back from Milwaukee…I come from that kind of punk theatre aesthetic. DIY, do it yourself, you want to make theatre, let’s do it. No budget? Who cares? We’re creative people and I appreciate interdisciplinary work. But over the years I’ve gotten to know more people in the city, and I’m in love with the art form. I love everything that has to go into theatre, and I love all aspects of it. Be it straight plays at the Rep or be it weird art at abandoned buildings like I did all those years ago.
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What got you interested in performing in Unnecessary Farce?
I think every project you do is an opportunity to educate yourself. I want to expand my vision and experience with people in the city and get to work with amazing companies like the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. So, I auditioned for them in September. My good friend Ryan Schabach, who directed the play, works at Lakefront Brewery. We’re both tour guides there. I met him five years ago when I started working there, and we’ve had deep conversations about theater over the years, so he asked me to come audition for him. I’m incredibly fortunate to be here. I’m mostly self-educated when it comes to theater, and a lot of these people I’m working with have storied histories with the theater community and have a lot of sway, a lot of pull and a lot of experience. Being able to work in the medium they work in at the Chamber Theater, I’m very humbled to be there.
Tell me about your past project, 1419. You said you were doing “weird art stuff in abandoned buildings,” at the time, what does that entail exactly?
We were an interdisciplinary art collective that I started when I was 19 or 20 with a bunch of my friends from college. The idea was to start a space for all artists, regardless of their artistic discipline, to commune and create work outside of the university system. We found this landlord who had this giant building, three or four stories, and he gave us these great deals on apartments inside. We cleaned up the building and started programming. We had visual artists, we had dancers, we had avant-garde theater artists, we had a broad spectrum of people that came in. It was totally underground, and it became one of the most popular underground venues in Minneapolis at that time. We had the opportunity to feel comfortable making work without the pressures of being under a contract or under a grade.
