Brian Drader

Title: Instructor
Phone: 204.258.3811
Office: 4T06
Building: Asper Centre for Theatre and Film
Email: b.drader@uwinnipeg.ca

Biography:

Brian is a writer, dramaturg, actor, teacher, and artistic administrator. He was brought up in Manitoba, where he received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Manitoba, and his theatre education at the University of Winnipeg. 

His writing career has spanned 35 years, with plays produced in Canada, the United States, and Europe.  Awards for his writing include the Herman Voaden National Playwriting Award, the Philadelphia Brick Playhouse New Play Award, and the prestigious Lambda Literary Award for Drama (USA), as well as nominations for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year. Published work includes The Norbals, Prok and Liar (Scirocco Drama), and Curtsy and To Be Frank (Signature Editions).  Screenplays include Woo and The Fruit Machine (Ocular Productions), Please Mr. Please (Full Stop Films), and The Return of the Fabulous Seven (Markham Street Films), all supported by Telefilm Canada.  A short film, Iris and Nathan, won the National Screen Institute Drama Prize.

Brian has acted in over seventy professional theatre productions across Canada, as well as numerous films, television projects, and radio dramas. He was the Associate Artistic Director for Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, as well as the facilitator and dramaturg for the PTE/MAP co-sponsored PlayBlitz and Young Emerging Playwrights programs.   He has supported the development of hundreds of plays through his dramaturgical practice. 

Commercial engagements include dramaturg for Cirque du Soleil’s MJ ONE at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.  His work with Montreal’s GSM Projects includes writing the audio components for Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology  and video components for Star Wars Identities, both touring museum exhibitions (Lucas Films/National Geographic), providing dramaturgical support for the 2017 revamp of The Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, and stylizing and editing content for the Anchorage Museum Alaska Exhibition. 

Brian served for 13 years as the Director of Playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, and is presently the Executive Director of the Manitoba Association of Playwrights and contract faculty at the University of Winnipeg. 

Courses:
THFM-2701-050 Introduction to Playwriting