Mark Keller on the positive effects of Poz

02 April 2025. by Drew Rowsome -Photos courtesy of Theatre Topikos

"I've always been a very open person," says Mark Keller of his play Poz, which "details my life as an HIV-positive individual today—addressing stigma, relationships, medical advancements, and personal resilience—all framed around my real-life journey of biking from Toronto to Montreal to raise funds for the People with AIDS Foundation." Poz was an award-winning, sold out hit at the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival. "I have a strong desire to tell everyone everything," says Keller. "It's therapeutic for me. I'm not good at keeping things in. But this was something I wasn't very open about. So when I finally started writing the show it all came pouring out and I just let it. I wrote the show in three weeks. I reread it and asked myself if I was actually going to put all that out there and what that would mean. But I thought, 'If I'm going to tell this story, I can't half-ass it. It's got to all be in there or what's the point?' And I felt like people would be able to relate to the uncomfortable parts. To be honest, I didn’t know if anyone would care about my story. I knew I had something to say and it felt meaningful to me but I really didn’t expect it to touch people the way it did. That was really lovely. In this case the art and the personal are so interwoven that it's hard to differentiate the two."

As is the performing of Poz. "It’s an odd experience because I’m playing myself but I’m playing someone I used to be," says Keller. "Various versions of myself from the last ten years. So while I have more to pull from than usual, I still approach it like a character. One I know very well. I’m also emotionally removed from a lot of the traumatic bits of the text at this point. I’ve done a lot of healing. Each night I access the real emotion as much as I need it, but not so much I get lost in it. It’s a fun balancing act which I look forward to doing again. If this show helps even one person feel less alone or teach someone something they didn’t know then it's worth it. I started to find out that more people were HIV positive than I thought. But nobody was out about it. And I felt like if more people saw people who had it than maybe that stigma and shame around it could start to lessen. I guess it's my hope that saying you're HIV positive doesn't have to be this scary thing, even though I sometimes still struggle saying it and I wrote a whole show about it."

Keller had a specific reason for creating. "I felt like there was a gap in how HIV was portrayed in media or onstage, a lot of it is still stuck in the past. I wasn't seeing what it was like to be an HIV positive person now in 2025. Stigma, social shame, and mental health define this era. While it's important we never forget the destruction this illness caused, and still causes, there are new stories to tell. And they need to be told. Poz tells those stories. I feel like the Fringe was a test run. I found with every performance audience reactions to the text would get bigger and bigger. I had been learning from each previous show about what moments to lean into. I found out what sections needed more room to breathe and which ones I could charge through. I also cut a big joke that never got a laugh even though I think it was funny. I also just feel a lot more comfortable sharing this in front of a real live audience. That first show was absolutely nerve shattering. So despite the show really feeling fully formed as we hit the ground running, this production feels much more elevated."

Attitudes towards HIV and being poz are ever evolving. "I am so thankful for the advent of PrEP," says Keller. "It's had a huge impact in regards to stigma. I was diagnosed just before PrEP became commonplace and I saw a massive shift in the willingness of HIV negative men to sleep with positive men. But I was rejected online because of my status just the other week, so it's not like that fear is completely gone. I get it. I was afraid too before I was diagnosed. At first I thought I would only be able to have relationships with other poz guys, and that's no longer the case, and the show details that shift. The show goes deep into two of my significant relationships while I was coming to terms with my status. So I won't comment on those. But there's a relationship after that didn't fit into the show where the boy had 'into poz' on his profile and when I brought that up he started lecturing me about how some of the most inspiring people in his life were poz and undetectable equals untransmittable, and I knew I had found a good one. We spent three wonderful years together and my status was a non-issue."

If the Fringe was, as Keller says, "a test run," how is this production different? "With Fringe they were really there to guide you along, but as an independent producer I'm on my own," says Keller. "I knew I wanted to mount the show again since we, humble brag, sold out the Fringe run so fast, so I approached a few companies to potentially partner with. The PrEP provider Freddie was very generous with support of the show and from there I was able to rent the beautiful Aki Studio. It's a lot bigger than the previous venue, so the show had to change to fill the space. I feel like this is the version the show was always meant to be. I get to add material back in that I had cut for the show to be under an hour for Fringe. Some scenes feel entirely different now. It's very exciting. I'm also able to have talkbacks after the Thursday and Friday show which I love doing to engage community conversation. I feel the show is for everyone but there’s definitely some jokes and experiences that only gay people will really understand. Just like there are some parts that only HIV positive people will really understand. But I set out to create a piece that was specific to my life, but could be universal to anyone watching. We had a wide range of audience members at Fringe and I hope that continues. The more people that the message reaches, the better."

Keller has had a lot of support which he is grateful for. "I'm lucky to have the same team back from the Fringe production," he says. "Director Nick May and I have collaborated on a few projects, and Alan Shonfield and I get to share the stage again after 5 Guys Chillin'. I loved that show so much. Alan is the most generous actor and Nick and I work so well together. And we've added the brilliant stage manager Sofia Di Cicco and I also get to act with my best friend, Amber Pilon. That's really important. Finding people who understand your creativity and compliment it. Theatre Topikos is bringing Poz to Montreal Fringe next! We run June 9-14th at the festival. So the next few months are all Poz all the time. I'm really excited to bring it to a new city and new audiences. When the run was over last July, I knew it wasn't the end for the show. So who knows where it can go. I'd love for it to have a life long after this. But first, we bring it back to Toronto, where Poz and Theatre Topikos were born." Any fears of revealing too much are long gone. Keller says that professionally and personally, "It's only had a positive effect."