Leyam, 19
Photos and text by Mahi Kaur
The busier life you lead, the more stuff you tend to have to carry. This is especially true for Leyam, a Musical Theatre student at Capilano University who lives a back-to-back life. Balancing school with work, fitness, social time and self-care requires him to carry a lot at once. To make these transitions between classes and his daily routine, he chooses to rent out a monthly locker at school for around $40.
To stay on top of things, he carries his audition book (a singers version of a portfolio) with him.
His “Dove Men + Care” toiletry bag carries his skin and hair products: Bull Dog face cream, Nivea Men Face Wash, Dove Men Care antiperspirant, Dove shampoo, Dove Men body wash, a Garnier mud mask, and Kevin Murphy “rough rider” hair gel. For intimacy scenes at practicum shows, he brings a mini Colgate toothpaste, an encased toothbrush, and some white plastic toothpicks. The blue plastic tube is for vocal warmups. His essential grooming materials include his tweezers, eyebrow scissors, and a brow pen.
To maintain energy throughout the day, Leyam brings peach tranquillity and jade citrus mint tea packages, honey packages from work, protein powder, and pre-workout powder.
On occasion, Leyam brings his second bag, a Keith Haring x Herschel duffle, to carry even more, like his runners or umbrella. Among his the contents of his backbook, which include a Macbook and journal, one book catches the eye: Actions: The Actors’ Thesaurus. The book helps him put particular verbs to action in scenes— or “acting spicy-verbs,” as he calls it. In addition to a writing journal, Leyam also uses an “actors void” book where he does scene work for songs in visual expression (similar to a creative journal).