Unveiled Productions is a new theatre company dedicated to producing the works of young up and coming artists connected to immigrant and queer communities.
My name is Izad Etemadi and I am an actor/singer/writer/story-teller currently living in Victoria, BC and relocating to Toronto, ON in May 2014. My family left Tehran, Iran after the Revolution and were placed in German refugee camps where I was born in 1990. In 1995, we were sponsored by a church to live in Canada. Growing up in Canada gave me the opportunity to experience all aspects of the performing arts. I knew early on that performing was what I loved and how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. This may not have been the case had I grown up in Iran.
This was the theme of my first solo show, Borderland, that toured the Fringe circuit in 2013. It was a look at what my life could have been had my family never left in Iran. Inspired by stories I read online and organizations such as the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees - a group that helps queer Iranians escape their country - I created this dark solo piece that won Best In Venue/Critics Choice at the Hamilton Fringe and Most Outstanding Young Performer at the Calgary Fringe. Borderland has already begun to breakdown barriers by holding it's well received Calgary performances in a Christian Reform Church Sanctuary with a special performance during their Sunday service.
This summer I will be joining forces with Liza Balkan to redevelop the show, making the necessary changes and additions to take the show to the next level. We hope to establish stronger ties with the queer and Iranian communities and use this piece as an opportunity for people to start conversations on this often socially buried topic in a safe environment.
Out of Borderland came my newest show, Love With Leila. A one woman show based on everyone's favourite Persian lady, Leila, played by myself, will take you through her journey of feeling ugly, unwanted and unloved to finding the love that matters most. She will appear at the Hamilton Fringe Festival and Edmonton Fringe Festival this summer and eventually be making her YouTube premiere. Leila's frank, loving, and authentic perspective on life is just what the doctor ordered.
My newest developed piece is called Gayranian. It pulls at my journey so far as a young gay man growing up in an Iranian family living in Canada. Having already performed monologues from it in both Victoria and Vancouver, audience response has been positive and interest in Gayranian's development has been mounting.
I have drive, ambition, ideas and an incredible group of experienced creative artists that are ready to contribute their skills. I have fellow aspiring young artists that I want to collaborate with to create theatre that starts conversations and takes audiences beyond entertainment. The thing that is missing is adequate and representative compensation for these talented people for the use of their extraordinary skills. With your help I plan to use Unveiled Productions to create new voices and employment for artists across Canada and eventually internationally.
Thanks for taking the time to visit me here. If you have questions or want to know more check out my social media channels and please feel free to contact me directly!