Directed by 2SLGBTQI+ theatre talent Paolo Santaluica, The Bidding War takes audiences through a day of chaos in a frantic story that exposes us as part of the housing crisis problem…
With homeownership becoming more like a dream – maybe a nightmare – than a reality, it can be hard to find something humorous about the situation. A new play written by Michael Ross Albert and directed by Paolo Santalucia aims to create a different conversation around the housing crisis and leave viewers laughing.
The Bidding War, on now until December 15 at Crow’s Theatre, is a spoof on the unattainability of homeownership. When the last affordable house goes on the market, a frantic 12-hour bidding war commences where heads roll, shrimp tails fly, sabotage occurs, and agents turn on buyers and vice versa. The 11 person cast features Aurora Browne (Baroness Von Sketch Show), Gregory Waters (Letterkenny), Veronica Hortiguela (Prodigal) and more, who represent first time and long time homebuyers as well as those divesting their estates.
Albert crafts a satirical, dark and humourous play about the state of real estate, analyzing the direness, pressures and struggles faced by urban homebuyers. He also unmasks a component of the housing crisis many likely don’t consider or don’t want to admit – us.
“This play elucidates that we are the housing crisis. Our personalities are the housing crisis,” Santalucia explains. “This play looks at our inherent human desires as the broken system itself and says the first step to fixing this issue is to acknowledge that we are its primary proponent.”
As the bidding period escalates, the characters begin to show desperation, anxiety and greed, exposing the lengths people will go to achieve owning a home and being part of middle class society. “As soon as you reflect that problem on human behaviour, it allows for a kind of instantaneous recognition, which has elicited some fun responses in the audience until they realize they’re actually laughing at themselves, not at hypothetical characters.”
While these characters may be a reflection of ourselves or those we know, Santalucia advises not to apply the strategies seen on stage. “The people we become through the process are people we have to live with for a long time…Don’t make bad decisions and don’t be any of the people that you watch in this play,” he says. “If you are those people and you’ve gotten success from that, I both admire and I’m jealous and hope our paths never cross.”
Luckily, when Santalucia and his husband purchased their home during the pandemic, they didn’t meet any of these characters thanks to social distancing guidelines. The experience though partly influenced his directorial approach. “I remember, my real estate agent said, ‘You’ve gotten it. It’s now or never. Pull the trigger.’ I couldn’t believe how quickly that decision was reached. My husband didn’t even see our condominium…That sense of the fervidness and exchange definitely informed this play.”
The process also allowed him to see the complexity and impossibility of becoming a middle class society member and how that social achievement is slowly slipping away for many. “I was confronted with the notion that things don’t automatically get better for everybody,” he said. “We are living in a time in which the platitude of the Canadian dream might no longer exist…That experience has informed not only mine, but I think Michael’s approach. The puncturing of that platitude and notion that things get better, is certainly something this play challenges in really interesting ways.”
The experiences of Albert and Santalucia creates a dynamic team and is a partnership the director has looked forward to for some time. While the opportunity to work together was part of the draw, Santalucia also credits the script which he describes as “an audacious and bold piece of writing,” in a genre of writing he hasn’t “experienced a playwright try to do in a long time.”
The Bidding War is also a first for Santalucia in his over decade long career as it represents his largest cast to date. Santalucia, an award-winning writer, director and actor, has had various roles in Soulpepper Theatre productions and guest acting spots on shows like Kim’s Convenience. He co-founded The Howland Company and is associate artistic director at Crow’s Theatre.
Through his career, Santalucia has seen and been part of an evolving Canadian theatre scene. He has viewed innovative stories, has met and watched shows by bold-boundary-breaking new talent as well as witnessed progressive leaders guide theatre companies. That is especially true when it comes to 2SLGBTQI+ theatre. “Each added letter to that beautiful rainbow comes with it a world of perspectives…Each letter contains multitudes of lifetimes that have yet to have their stories told or to have their stories told in new ways.”
When asked what he’d like to see next in the 2SLGBTQI+ theatre space, the director shared two types of queer stories that he is craving and feels he doesn’t always see in drama. “One is the absolute joy of what it is to exist as a queer body in this city [Toronto]…The other thing I sometimes crave is the mundanity of the identity of a queer person…People can be queer and not traumatized, people can be queer and be profoundly boring.”
You can follow Paolo Santalucia (@paolo_santalucia) and Crow’s Theatre (@crowstheatre) on Instagram. The Bidding War runs until Sunday, December 15, 2024 at Crow’s Theatre: Guloien Theatre (345 Carlaw Avenue).
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