Sergio Di Zio in The Bidding War: revelling in not being nice, "This is us too"

13 Nov 2024 - Photos by Dahlia Katz

"It’s a very true, cringy look at where we are now," says Sergio Di Zio of The Bidding War. "Playwright Michael Ross Albert manages to find the comedy in something all Torontonians can probably relate to: the current desperation in trying to carve out home in this city. Depending on where you’re at it can feel overpriced, overpopulated, underhoused, overcondoed, growing too quick, not adapting fast enough. I think there’s catharsis and release in finding the funny in what makes us, us. And as these characters fall on their faces the laughs offer some relief to what usually makes us livid."

Di Zio, familiar to many for his extensive work in film and televsion, is coming off a stellar run of dramatic theatrical roles in Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, Rockabye and Between Riverside and Crazy. "All those intense dramas had comedy as a very important ingredient too," clarifies Di Zio. "I think The Bidding War is that in reverse. I think all good stories go both ways. It’s what being human is. If you serve that you tell the story." The Bidding War script hit close to home. Di Zio plays Greg "an actor whose side job is a realtor, but somewhere down the road he may have lost perspective to what he actually is anymore. I remember saying to director Paolo Santalucia (The Wrong Bashir, Prodigal, Orphans for the Czar, Four Chords and a Gun, Bed and Breakfast, La Bete, Animal Farm, The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, Mustard, The Taming of the Shrew)  and Michael last January when they approached with the possibility of playing him that there was, half-joking, no guarantee that I wouldn’t find myself in his position by the time the show went up. Our sense of safety and security as artists in this city, and probably in most places, is so challenged today. We’ve gotten used to living in the moment in a way that felt alien before the pandemic."

 Di Zio is on a roll. "Michael has written a very accurate and true comedic treatise on the state of Toronto housing. All levels of government should treat themselves to this show. I answer these questions early on a Sunday morning to the symphony of jackhammers, cranes, and the rattle of dump trucks that have scared away all the birds. I’ve had my share of horror stories and dreams come true. From my experience those two go together. Rents, mortgages, upheavals in between . . .They get collective credit for the salt and pepper that has trumped the brown on this head. But this head is more grateful than ever to have a roof over it.  I had a great conversation with the super at a building where I once had a condo. It was a specifically messy moment in my life and he got to know me in that low. He was originally not from Canada. And in one candid consideration he said to me 'Sergio, people in Toronto are not nice. They are polite. Polite is not nice.' That stuck. He would appreciate this show. I should check if he is still there and I should comp him."

Di Zio is relishing the opportunity to play "not nice." In the press release Santalucia describes The Bidding War as “simmering, vicious, with characters ripped straight out of the most absurd corners of our lives.” And Di Zio is sharing the stage with some fabulous scene stealing talent including Izad Etemadi (Let Me Explain, Mad Madge, Box 4901, The Beaver Dam), Peter Fernandes (Kelly v Kelly, Fifteen Dogs, Rose, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Love and Information, King Lear, Onegin), Gregory Prest (The Inheritance, De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail, Jesus Hopped the 'A" Train,  A Streetcar Named Desire, Little Menace, Rose, Bed and Breakfast, La Bete) and Fiona Reid (Hedda Gabler, The Audience, London Road) who make the prospect of "not nice" very enticing. "This cast has been a dream," says Di Zio. "Love and support for each other came shockingly easy, shockingly fast. And though the characters are cut throat, at no point did Paolo’s style try to encourage that vibe among the actors. His direction has been precise, thoughtful, and exciting throughout out the process. I came into this marvelling at how much these actors have made me laugh in the past. I’d never worked with any of them before. Rehearsal was a lot of 'laugh until you cry' with the added surprise of a professionalism and kindness I did not see coming. We are lucky." 

Di Zio cannot enthuse enough. "This is the largest company I’ve worked with in a play since high school. And I’m surrounded by people who have so much more experience in theatre than I do. I try to sponge from their wisdom. It exudes every day in the rehearsal hall and the green room. They might be teaching me unconsciously most of the time. I’m learning about endurance, and repetition, and skill." But he refuses to dish. "I honestly cannot pick favourites. And it’d be a disservice to what we’ve built. I’ve had different favourites every run and then that shifts to any direction by every curtain." Nor will he contrast. "Film and television has been and is very good to me in my career," he emphasizes before admitting. "They’re both carny lifestyles but the circus tents have more history to them in theatre. They feel sturdier."    

And Di Zio will be back on screen when The Bidding War closes just before Christmas. "In 2025, I’ll be back on TV in a few new series. Snowflakes for FX and Motorheads on Amazon Prime to name a couple. Also, as of today, I Will Bury You, the web series I am in and coproduced with Colin Glazer and Ravi Steve Khajuria just won back to back best series awards at web fests in both Bilbao, Spain and in New Zealand. You can find it at Highball TV and iwillburyyou.com." But for now Di Zio is concentrating on finetuning Greg and his place in The Bidding War. "One would hope that this show delivers both laughs and many moments of taking offence. If theatre isn’t for that, it’s time to walk away and consider trying for my realtor licence. It won’t just be realtors who will be taking a look at themselves. Any Torontonian who doesn’t see some of who they are in a few or all of these characters needs to work on some more self-awareness in their real life. This is us too."