Brad Fraser is one of Canada’s most talented and prolific playwrights. Born in
Edmonton, Alberta in 1959, Brad won his first playwriting competition at the age of 17 and has been writing ever since.
Brad’s International hit play Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects PlayRites festival in 1989 after being developed by Workshop West Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta. It has since been produced worldwide, with highly successful runs in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Milan and London. It has been translated into several languages, and was most recently produced in: Athens, Greece; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The film version of the play, Love and Human Remains, won Brad a Genie for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1994.
Poor Super Man, developed by Canadian Stage, was first produced by the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati in 1994 and has enjoyed successful runs in such diverse cities as: Sydney, Australia; Edinburgh, Scotland; London, England; Denver, Colorado; and Toronto, Ontario—to name a few. It was nominated for a Governor Generals Award for Drama and, like Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, was listed by Time Magazine as one of the top ten plays for that year. Fraser directed the film version of the play, titled Leaving Metropolis, released in 2002. It won the audience favourite award at the Sydney Australia LGBT Film Festival and is available through Wolf Video.
Martin Yesterday, which premiered at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 1997, has been subsequently produced by Theatre Network in Edmonton, a long time producer of Brad’s work, enjoyed a very controversial run at The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester England, and opened in 2002 at the New Conservatory Theatre Centre, San Francisco.
Fraser’s long-time producer the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England commissioned Snake in Fridge, (2000), as well as premiering Cold Meat Party (2003), True Love Lies (2007) and 5 @ 50 (2011), which enjoyed very successful runs and have gone on to multiple other productions.
Brad has written two musicals, Outrageous, with composer Joey Miller, Canadian Stage (2001) and Prom Night of the Living Dead (1991) with composer Darrin Hagen.
Other produced plays include: Mutants (Walterdale Theatre, Edmonton, 1981), Wolfboy (Twenty-fifth Street Theatre, Saskatoon, 1982), Rude Noises (For a Blank Generation) (A pseudo-collective with Paul Thompson and Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, 1982), Chainsaw Love (Edmonton Fringe Festival/Workshop West, 1985), Young Art (Theatre Passe Muraille, 1986), Return of the Bride (Edmonton Fringe Festival, 1989) and The Ugly Man (Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary, 1990).
Brad was a writer/associated-producer on the TV series Queer As Folk for its final three seasons. (2002-05) He also hosted the talk show Jawbreaker with Brad Fraser for Canada’s first gay television network. (2002-03)
Fraser’s newest play, Kill Me Now, will open at Workshop West Theatre in Edmonton, Sept. 2013 and has since been produced to great acclaim in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Internationally it has played in South Korea where it did a national tour and Poland, to sold out audiences.
Brad’s plays have won numerous awards including The London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The L.A. Critics Award, The Dora Mavor Moore Award, and London’s Time Out Award for Best New Play. Brad is a five-time winner of the Alberta Culture Playwrighting Competition and a very grateful two-time winner of the prestigious Chalmers Award.
In addition to his work as a playwright and director Brad has spoken at various universities and arts institutions across the continent on such subjects as “Why I Hate The Theatre”—a witty, merciless commentary on the current state of theatre and theatrical criticism (The Grand Theatre, London, Ontario and The University of Saskatchewan, Regina), and the affect of AIDS on his work in the highly personal and hard hitting “What I Did During the Plague” (Concordia University, Montreal and The University of Nebraska, Lincoln). Brad has written extensively for print media (The Edmonton Bullet, The Globe and Mail, Western Living, The National Post, Fab Magazine, Xtra Toronto), radio (CBC, BBC, and CKUA) and various film companies (Disney/Touchstone, Lewis Chesler Productions, Atlantis/Alliance and Serendipity Point Films). Parade (1995), a feature length Guerilla video created with Daniel MacIvor, has played at a number of gay and lesbian film festivals around the world.
Brad has been playwright in residence at Theatre Passe Muraille, Workshop West Theatre and Alberta Theatre Projects. He has been a three-time member of the Banff Centre’s Playwrights Colony.
Brad’s work has enjoyed the very important support of The Canada Council, The Edmonton Arts Council, Alberta Culture, The Trillium Foundation, The Laidlaw Foundation, Telefilm Canada and The Ontario Arts Council. Without the support of these groups Brad’s work would not have achieved its success.
Brad’s plays are published and available at bookstores and online.
