July is here, kicking off our two busiest months of the year!

Of course our summer production will jump into rehearsals soon, and we’re tickled pink that the young actor playing the titlular role in Richard III is back with us once more.  This plucky young performer (who also happens to be our July YP of the month) has been on many of our stages playing everything from an Italian lover to an Athenian lover to a somewhat Yiddish mamma duck.  This generous and brave young actor never ceases to impress us with his commitment, his skill, and ability to make us laugh.  And who is this intelligent, insightful, and indeed impish impersonator of identities?

July’s YP of the Month is none other than,

Curtis Wilson!!!

Way back in the year 2012, the big hullabaloo was the apocalypse. Unbeknownst to doomsday conspirators, the Four Horsemen ran a little late and were replaced by Curtis Wilson’s first character: Jonah, a clumsy paperboy in CYPT’s spring production of Daily Mischief: A Golden Summer. Since then, Curtis has been lucky enough to join Calgary Young People’s Theatre in seven other plays, a couple camps, and one phenomenal writers group experience. Curtis’ passions span from reading and writing (picture books are his favourite), to a bit more reading and using his status as a Reverend of the Universalist Unitarian Church to marry his friends in dark lobbies during intermissions (it’s totally legit, Jamie).

Curtis (far left), Robert, and Maddie in The Lost Prince (2015)

Curtis’ approach to characters is through their language. His interest in English influences his script-work heavily and he is always searching for the playwright’s intentions, whether it be word choice or story-arc. In ten years he can see himself in a dark, damp university library with leather patches on his elbows and a concealed “Cormac McCarthy Forever” tattoo.

He would like to thank his mother and father for raising him to never say, “No,” just, “Not yet.” He would also like to thank his sister, his wonderfully talented girlfriend Emma, and all his friends that he has met along his journey with CYPT. Thank you.

Curtis (right) with Brandon and Amanda in The Curse of the House of Atreus (2014).

Curtis and Cordell in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2014)

“I believe that acting is selfish, but necessary. When I am acting, not only am I giving a performance for the audience to (hopefully) enjoy– I am also giving myself a release; an experience that would usually be inaccessible in my day-to-day life. Oddly enough though, we act every day of our lives! We act to have fun. We act like we’re stronger than we are. If you’re a lawyer, you act like you care. But regardless of where you come from or where you are going, those masquerades will always be there, and I encourage you to take a break from yourself. You deserve it!” – Curtis Wilson