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Born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1950, Bryan Wade was a screenwriter and playwright who took writing courses at the University of Victoria and received an MFA degree from the University of California in Motion Picture and Television. He later taught at the UBC Creative Writing department.
Some of his early plays include Off the Freeway (1970), Coffee Break (1971) Nightshift (1971), Vaccuum (1971), Stroke (1972), Lifeguard (1973), Alias (1974), Antigravitational menopause (1974), Blitzkrieg (1974), Aliens (1975), Underground (1975), Electric Gunfighters (1976), Tanned (1976) and This Side of the Rockies (1977). In Canada his plays have been produced by Factory Theatre Lab, Toronto Free Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, the Blyth Festival, Theatre Calgary and the New Play Centre. His radio dramas have been aired on Nightfall, Morningside, Vanishing Point, Stereo Theatre and Sunday Showcase. His anthology of five plays called Blitzkrieg and Other Plays was published by Playwrights Press. (The play, Blitzkrieg features Hitler and Eva Bruan.)
Bryan Wade founded the Brave New Play Rites festival, for public performances, where many successful writers have had their plays produced including Dennis E. Bolen, Stephanie Bolster, Aaron Bushkowsky, Kevin Chong, and Maureen Medved. He also edited Brave New Play Rites (Anvil Press, 2006), a collection of short one-act plays written by students in the Creative Writing Program at UBC and produced at the annual festival of the same name.
Bryan Wade died on February 3, 2022 due to an unexpected and brief battle with coronary artery disease.
[BCBW 2022] "Theatre"
Some of his early plays include Off the Freeway (1970), Coffee Break (1971) Nightshift (1971), Vaccuum (1971), Stroke (1972), Lifeguard (1973), Alias (1974), Antigravitational menopause (1974), Blitzkrieg (1974), Aliens (1975), Underground (1975), Electric Gunfighters (1976), Tanned (1976) and This Side of the Rockies (1977). In Canada his plays have been produced by Factory Theatre Lab, Toronto Free Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, the Blyth Festival, Theatre Calgary and the New Play Centre. His radio dramas have been aired on Nightfall, Morningside, Vanishing Point, Stereo Theatre and Sunday Showcase. His anthology of five plays called Blitzkrieg and Other Plays was published by Playwrights Press. (The play, Blitzkrieg features Hitler and Eva Bruan.)
Bryan Wade founded the Brave New Play Rites festival, for public performances, where many successful writers have had their plays produced including Dennis E. Bolen, Stephanie Bolster, Aaron Bushkowsky, Kevin Chong, and Maureen Medved. He also edited Brave New Play Rites (Anvil Press, 2006), a collection of short one-act plays written by students in the Creative Writing Program at UBC and produced at the annual festival of the same name.
Bryan Wade died on February 3, 2022 due to an unexpected and brief battle with coronary artery disease.
[BCBW 2022] "Theatre"
Articles: 1 Article for this author
UBC Establishes Playwrighting Award (1999)
Press Release
UBC's Dept. of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing has established a Creative Writing Residency Prize in Stageplay. The biennial prize, worth $25,000, is the most generous of its kind in Canada. "Not only will it increase the profile of playwriting as an art form in Canada -- much like the Booker Prize has done for fiction in Great Britain -- the Residency Prize in Stageplay will bring outstanding playwrights of national and international stature to the UBC campus and the Lower Mainland," says Assoc. Prof. Bryan Wade, director of the prize.
The award includes a one-month residency at the university. While on campus, the winning playwright will mentor Creative Writing students, work with Theatre students and faculty on the development of the play for performance, and deliver the Stageplay Residency Lecture. The winning play will be published by PRISM international, Creative Writing's literary magazine, and a public performance will be presented. "As well, the prize will build upon the connections already developed in our department between writing, publication and performance, and will give students throughout the university and the general public an opportunity to benefit from the process," says Wade.
UBC Media Release | Wed. Nov. 3, 1999
