Writer and spoken word artist Shane Koyczan was catapulted to fame when he performed a powerful piece called “We Are More” at the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and then again with a viral video about bullying (see below for both).
Now, along with one of Canada’s premiere opera companies, he has ventured into a whole new realm and transformed his book Stickboy — which tells the harrowing tale of his experience of bullying as a child — into an opera, which is on at Vancouver Opera until Nov. 7.
CBC Music caught up with Koyczan to talk about the Vancouver Opera production, about bullying, and about finding hope.
There has been a lot of attention leading up to this production. How are you feeling about all of it?
It’s a little overwhelming. I’ve also got an art opening in conjunction with the opera, and I’m trying to get ready for the Dalai Lama’s visit, because I’ll be opening him.
You’re opening for the Dalai Lama?! What is that like?
Well I never thought of him as somebody who required an opening act. [Laughs] I’m obviously honoured and you don’t say no to something like that. But it’s a lot of pressure.
You wrote a novel about your experience of bullying, and now that has been transformed into an opera. How did that come to be?
When I wrote the book, I was just trying for some measure of catharsis with my entire experience growing up. So [anti-bullying crusader] Sandy Garossino published the book, and then she gave [Vancouver opera general director] Jim Wright a copy. And then I got a call from Jim asking if I would go for coffee with him, so I did.
He said, “I really like your book and I would like to turn it into an opera.” And I was like, “Great, go for it,” thinking that was the end of my commitment. [Laughs] But he had different designs and asked if I would be interested in writing the libretto for it. I enjoy challenges, and I love working with words, so I was very honoured to be asked and of course here we are just over a year later and everything is now taking shape.
What was your response to the idea of having your work transformed into an opera?
It was tough because when I write a poem, if people are critical of it, it’s just a poem — and people will be critical of anything you do. But this is not something that was pulled from the imagination. This is not something that was invented. This is a story that actually happened, and it happened to me. It’s my story. So it’s very close to me. But the amount of care and thoughtfulness that everybody else who is working on the show has put into it is pretty astounding.
What aspects of this story are suited to opera?
It’s a human story, and it’s in our lives almost every day. There are people who get bullied at work, or people who get bullied at school. And I think Vancouver Opera really wanted to put out something that people could relate to on a really human level. The classics are absolutely beautiful, but they’re not always relatable. Stories like Faust — I mean, how many people here are meeting the devil on a daily basis? Not a lot. [Laughs] This is a very human story and keeps that conversation going. And I think it’s a really brave piece for them to be doing.
When you set out to write the libretto, what was your approach?
When I first talked about my ideas for the show, right off the bat I thought, “This is not going to be a drama. This is going to be something very different. I want people to feel the fear.” Because there was dread every day going to school. And I want people to experience that so that they understand that the things you say and do to other people have a tremendous amount of impact, especially when they are done over and over and over again.
I also wanted to show people how easy it is to go from one end of the spectrum to the other. People always ask me about the victim side of being bullied, but they forget that I crossed the line and went to the other end of the spectrum as well. There was something inside me that broke.
Is that where the name Stickboy comes from?
Yes. I mean Stickboy has a lot of connotations: there is the sticks and stones aspect, and the sticks of dynamite explosiveness of it. But ultimately it’s like when you take a stick and you snap it in half, and all of a sudden it’s a very sharp, dangerous thing. And that really is what this show is about. It shows how easy that transition can be.
What age were you when the bullying was at its worst?
It started around 10. And it started because somebody found out that my grandparents were not my parents, even though I called them mom and dad — because they were mom and dad. But they found out that they were not my actual parents, and then somebody at school said “because your real parents don’t want you.” And that was enough to make me cry in school, and that was pretty much the permission slip they needed to say, “Ok, he’s the one that we’re all going to come in on because we can make him cry now.” That’s when it got really bad. And then I had that shift and started bullying when I was around 15.
What was it like to return to that part of your life, and to be so absorbed in it all over again?
Tough. This is not a chapter of my life that I enjoy revisiting. [Laughs] At a certain point you want to step away and step back into the light and start to move forward, because there is always the danger of getting trapped in your past.
And this was your first libretto. What was that like?
If you read the book, you’ll see there is no dialogue in it. It all happens inside my head, and you know you’re dealing with my imagination all the way through. The opera is very external, so it was very challenging because I had to create that dialogue and that repetition.
And the use of language in opera is much different from what I do with spoken word and poetry. For example there are a lot of considerations to be made in your word choices. Is it short? Is it vowely enough to be sung? Does it drive the story forward? Will it work with the music? With the measures and the beats and all the math involved, it was pretty grueling at certain points. So we started off with something that was really quite long, and the editing process was where all these sort of rough edges started to be chipped away, like a block of marble.
What is it like watching it all acted out in front of you?
It’s a bit like playing with the snow globe and being on the outside of it for the first time. It’s no less painful by any stretch, but it is a different experience, for sure. People were not singing huge arias when all this was happening to me.
But there are triggers every day. I talk about catharsis, but I realize the more I live my life, this is just something that is going to stay with me. It’s always going to be a part of who I am.
So I wanted to put something forward that doesn’t necessarily put a bow on everything and say everything is going to be okay, because you’re still going to face challenges. And I don’t want to give away the ending, but there is hope. I mean, I am still here, so obviously there is hope — and there is goodness and levity.
But I didn’t want to come away from it saying, “This is just something you’re going to get over.” Because I don’t think people do that. People say, “Aw, bullying, it’s just a part of growing up.” But why? Why does it have to be? Let’s evolve. We don’t need it anymore.
Vancouver Opera's production of Stickboy runs through Nov. 7 at the Vancouver Playhouse. For further information or to buy tickets, click here.
