Yogi Playwright: A.J. Demers

GOT HIS START:

With Loose Moose Theatre as an improviser.

MAJOR SWITCHING:

When he jumped onto the Loose Moose stage in 1990, he was an astrophysics major at the U of C. "I moved from astrophysics into geography, to philosophy, to psychology, to English, taking a few drama courses here and there," says Demers. He finished with a double major in English and psychology.

HEAD OF WHIMSY STATE:

The Whimsy State or The Principality of Outer Baldonia is Demers' first solo work as a playwright. The play details the exploits of Outer Baldonia, an island micro-nation of fishermen off the tip of Nova Scotia which declared independence from Canada and war on the Soviet Union in the 1950s.

CHILDHOOD FANTASY:

"As a kid, I always had that fantasy of: what if we could have our own place? Our own island? Our own fort?" says Demers. "(The play) has this youthful exuberance of fort building and being on your own and creating the world yourself."

SAY YES, BE POSITIVE:

Demers teaches seven or eight classes of yoga a week at Yoga Passage in the Beltline; the improviser-turned-playwright finds the principles of yoga line up well with his work. "What brought me to yoga was a bad back, but what kept me in yoga is the philosophy behind it," says Demers. "Just breathe and slow and move, which is very similar to an improviser background where it's 'go with the flow, say yes and be positive.'"