Brad Fraser (born June 28, 1959) is a Canadian playwright. He is one of the most widely produced Canadian playwrights both in Canada and internationally. His plays typically feature a harsh yet comical view of contemporary life in Canada, including frank depictions of sexuality, drug use and violence. [1]
Fraser was born in Edmonton, Alberta. His most noted early play was Wolf Boy; [2] first staged in Edmonton in 1981, its 1984 production in Toronto by Theatre Passe Muraille was later noted as one of the first significant acting roles for Keanu Reeves. [3]
Fraser first came to national and international prominence as a playwright with Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love , an episodically structured play about a group of thirtysomethings trying to find their way through life in Edmonton, while the city is haunted by a serial killer. Written while Fraser was playwright in residence with Alberta Theatre Projects, [4] it was a hit at ATP's playRites '89, and became his national and international breakthrough.
Coming three years after the 1991 Robert Mapplethorpe controversy in Cincinnati, Poor Super Man inspired international headlines when the board of directors of Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati temporarily cancelled the production because of its anticipated obscenity. [5] After a public outcry, the production was reinstated. Poor Super Man opened without incident.
Fraser also has written two films, Love and Human Remains and Leaving Metropolis , which were both adaptations of his plays; Denys Arcand directed Love and Human Remains, while Leaving Metropolis was Fraser's debut as a film director. [6] He has also written for the television series Queer as Folk ; [6] was host of his own television talk show, Jawbreaker , for PrideVision; [6] and for a period of time wrote a biweekly column for the Canadian gay magazine fab .
His most recent play, Kill Me Now, premiered in 2014. [7] As of 2021, two film adaptations of Kill Me Now were in development in Canada and South Korea. [8]
A memoir by Brad Fraser, All the Rage, was published by Doubleday Canada in May 2021. [8]
Fraser won the Alberta Culture award for best full-length play in 1989, for Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love. [9]
He is a two-time winner of the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award, in 1991 for Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love and in 1996 for Poor Super Man. [10] He won the Genie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 15th Genie Awards for Love and Human Remains. [11]
Fraser won London's Evening Standard Award for Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love in 1993. [12]
He is a two-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, receiving nods at the 1995 Governor General's Awards for Poor Super Man [13] and at the 2016 Governor General's Awards for Kill Me Now. [14]
Fraser is openly gay, and his plays often focus on LGBTQ storylines. [15] In 2003 he became the executive story editor on Showtime's Queer As Folk . [15]
Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love is a 1989 stage play written by Canadian playwright Brad Fraser. Set in Edmonton, Alberta, the comedy-drama follows the lives of several sexually frustrated "thirty-somethings" who try to learn the meaning of love — during a time in which a serial killer is terrorizing the city. Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love was published in 2006 by Playwrights Canada Press as Love and Human Remains.
Love and Human Remains is a 1993 Canadian film directed by Denys Arcand and based on Brad Fraser's stage play Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love. Fraser also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. The film version follows the story line of the original play fairly closely: a gay man and his heterosexual, female roommate try to find love and sexual gratification in Edmonton, as a serial killer is loose in the city.
Margaret Sweatman is a Canadian writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Being at Home with Claude is a 1992 Canadian drama film directed by Jean Beaudin and based on the play by René-Daniel Dubois. The film stars Roy Dupuis as Yves, a gay man who has just murdered his lover Claude, and is attempting to explain his reasons to the police investigator.
Touchstone Theatre is a professional theatre company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1976 by a group of University of British Columbia theatre graduates. Touchstone's focus is on the development and production of Canadian works. Since 2016, the Artistic Director has been Roy Surette, who previously held the position in the 1990s. Former Artistic Directors are Ian Fenwick, Gordon McCall, John Cooper and Katrina Dunn, who served in that position from 1997 to 2016.
Charles Thomas Peacocke CM, was a Canadian actor. He won the Genie Award for Best Actor at the 2nd Genie Awards in 1981, for his role in The Hounds of Notre Dame.
Playwrights Canada Press is a Canadian publishing house founded in 1984 by the Playwrights Guild of Canada. It was incorporated in 2000 as an independent company.
Jason Cadieux is a Canadian film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his performance in the 1996 film Lilies, for which he was nominated for the Genie Award for Best Actor at the 17th Genie Awards.
Colleen Louise Murphy is a Canadian screenwriter, film director and playwright. She is best known for works including her plays The December Man, which won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2007 Governor General's Awards, and Beating Heart Cadaver, which was a shortlisted nominee for the same award at the 1999 Governor General's Awards, and the film Termini Station, for which she garnered a Genie Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the 11th Genie Awards.
Damien Atkins is a Canadian actor and playwright.
Kelly Rebar is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter, best known for the play and film Bordertown Café.
Alan Williams is a British actor and playwright, who has performed in film, television and theatre in both the United Kingdom and Canada.
Chapelle Jaffe is a Canadian film, television and stage actress. She is most noted for winning the Canadian Film Award for Best Actress in a Non-Feature at the 29th Canadian Film Awards in 1978 for the television film One Night Stand, and receiving a Genie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 3rd Genie Awards in 1982 for The Amateur.
Cherie Camp is a Canadian musician. She is most noted as cowriter with John Welsman of "Oh Love", a song from the film Nurse.Fighter.Boy which won the Genie Award for Best Original Song at the 30th Genie Awards.
Geoffrey Bowes is a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his performance in the 1979 film Something's Rotten, for which he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980.
The Seat of the Soul is a Canadian drama film, directed by Olivier Asselin and released in 1997. The film stars Emmanuel Bilodeau as Jules, a scientist in the late 19th century who sets out to prove the existence of the human soul after finding a mummy with its heart still beating.
Peter Dvorsky was a Canadian actor. He was most noted for his role as Harlan in the film Videodrome, for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 5th Genie Awards in 1984.
Anne Anglin is a Canadian actress and theatre director. She is most noted for her performance as Sharon in the 1986 television film Turning to Stone, for which she was a Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Program or Series at the 1st Gemini Awards, and her recurring role as Mrs. Cooney, the grandmother of J.T. Yorke, in Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Hardee T. Lineham is a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his performance in the 1996 film Shoemaker, for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 18th Genie Awards in 1997.
Matthew MacKenzie is a Canadian playwright and actor. He is most noted as a two-time Dora Mavor Moore Award winner for Outstanding New Play, Independent Theatre, winning in 2018 for Bears and in 2023 for The First Métis Man of Odesa.
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