{"id":71225,"date":"2021-06-01T10:09:48","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T14:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=71225"},"modified":"2021-06-01T10:09:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T14:09:48","slug":"interview-brad-frasers-all-the-rage-documents-the-rise-of-canadian-theatres-ultimate-iconoclast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2021\/06\/01\/interview-brad-frasers-all-the-rage-documents-the-rise-of-canadian-theatres-ultimate-iconoclast\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Brad Fraser\u2019s \u2018All The Rage\u2019 Documents The Rise Of Canadian Theatre\u2019s Ultimate Iconoclast"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_71226\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71226\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-71226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/INTERVIEW-Brad_Fraser.jpg\" alt=\"Brad Fraser (from the cover of 'All the Rage')\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-71226\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brad Fraser (from the cover of &#8216;All the Rage&#8217;)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>All The Rage,<\/em> the new book by internationally acclaimed Canadian playwright Brad Fraser, bears the subtitle<em> A partial memoir in two acts and a Prologue.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t even use the word autobiography \u2014 it\u2019s hardly exhaustive. That\u2019s why I call it a memoir,\u201d he explains. As a point of fact, it covers Fraser\u2019s early life until the dawn of the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>While he\u2019d been approached a couple of times over the years to document his roller coaster rise through the theatre world, he\u2019d always felt that it was too early. But, when he was approached on World AIDS day a couple of years ago with the idea that he could also document the advent of AIDS and the devastating ripple effects it had on that world, he realized he had an important story to tell right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he framed it that way, it made sense,\u201d he said. \u201cI could go back and revisit some of the people I\u2019d lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is now a generation that has forgotten about the epidemic, lending weight to the proposal. Fraser recalls a recent talk at the University of Toronto where he\u2019d been struck by the students\u2019 ignorance about that time. \u201cThey had no reference for this, they had no knowledge,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf we forget this, it\u2019ll all happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a different time than when Fraser grew up on the Prairies in a series of small towns in the 1960s and 1970s. The idea of LGBTQ2 rights, or even as a recognized identity, was a distant fantasy. \u201cI think young queer people now don\u2019t realize how difficult it was to gain those rights. They don\u2019t understand how what happened then informed what happens now,\u201d he says. The reach of AIDS activists extended well beyond their own communities. \u201cThey changed health care rules not just for queer people, but for everybody,\u201d he points out.<\/p>\n<p>Still, his purpose is to document and tell stories, not to lecture. \u201cOn one hand, you can\u2019t blame them either,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p><em>Love And Human Remains<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W2fNuXULVc8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3><strong>An Itinerant Early Life On The Prairies<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Fraser was born to two hard-living teenagers in 1959, and began life in a poverty-stained and irregular but endless cycle of cheap, horrible rentals and countless moves throughout Alberta. He often changed schools several times a year as landlord after landlord kicked the family out for non-payment of rent.<\/p>\n<p>The family would often end up staying with relatives, which also began a cycle of casual sexual and emotional abuse. Add to that the tensions of realizing he was attracted to men in a stiflingly conservative environment.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cUntil we\u2019ve achieved equality worldwide, we have not achieved equality.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt really severely affected that portion of my life,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s easy to point to positive changes in the interim, a young gay guy in small town Canada probably faces much the same wall of hatred and misunderstanding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe like to think when we live in big cities with our supportive crowds around us, that it\u2019s like that everywhere. A lot of the prejudices and beliefs that were around then are still around now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The one crucial difference is visibility \u2014 LGBTQ2 role models \u2014 which were entirely non-existent when he began to try and navigate his sexuality as a young man. \u201cMost people have some sense of a queer community [now],\u201d he says. But, the fight is hardly over. \u201cWe tend to think of Canada, America, England as places that are enlightened. Until we\u2019ve achieved equality worldwide, we have not achieved equality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, in some areas of the world, including south of our borders, there is a steady onslaught aimed at eroding those rights. \u201cIf Jason Kenney and Doug Ford had their way, the same thing would be happening here as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Theatre Works Its Magic<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Whatever his struggles through high school and into adulthood, the moment he saw his first play in the small auditorium at Victoria Composite High School in Edmonton in 1976, he knew his life had been changed. Within a week, he\u2019d switched high schools for one with a performing arts programme, and a course that would take him out of a hardscrabble existence and into an international and very public career.<\/p>\n<p>For theatre lovers, and anyone interested in Canadian culture, the book chronicles the birth of some of his most famous works and their often rocky road to the stage, including international hits <em>Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love<\/em> and <em>Poor Super Man<\/em>. Many of the personalities of Canadian theatre begin to emerge from his stories, with tidbits and working notes \u2014 and that includes backstage details about the 1984 Toronto production of <em>Wolfboy<\/em> that starred a very young Keanu Reeves.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s unsparing when it comes to sharing praise, and judicious in his critiques. That includes a clear-eyed \u2014 and at times critical \u2014 assessment of his own contributions. Failures are documented as meticulously as are the triumphs, along with a steady unfolding of his personal life and relationships along the way, often in explicit detail.<\/p>\n<p><em>An Australian production of Poor Super Man<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ddLpDaSsXak?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;start=1&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>He paints a portrait of Canadian theatre during a time when it was undergoing a shift change towards recognition of homegrown talent and stories, in contrast with the American and European heavy programming that had always been the norm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at the 90s, there was a kind of explosion of Canadian theatre,\u201d he recalls. In the book, he recounts that golden era, a time when his <em>Human Remains<\/em>, and plays by George F. Walker and Tomson Highway were packing in audiences in Toronto all at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a real sense of, this is really going to happen,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>But, here in 2021, <em>this<\/em> has died back down into a situation where American and foreign plays are still dominating the landscape. It\u2019s a state of affairs he attributes largely to the conglomeration of media in Canada, and the resulting slow death of arts and culture coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Fraser also mentions our \u201csad national inferiority complex\u201d in the memoir. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t good enough. We have to get someone outside,\u201d he says of the impetus to overlook Canadian talent. The excitement of the 1990s has subsided. \u201cThat is also our fault,\u201d he says. Fraser talks about theatres becoming more and more insular, playing to their own crowds, pulled into a narrow world of fighting to survive financially and programming too carefully.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_71229\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71229\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-71229\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/Brad-Fraser-4-Photo-Credit_-David-Hawe.jpg\" alt=\"Brad Fraser (Photo: David Hawe)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1528\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-71229\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brad Fraser (Photo: David Hawe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>The Price Of Life As An Outsider<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m here because most Canadian TV and movies are shit and I want to change that.\u201d The line comes from the book, declared by Fraser by way of his introduction to an Edmonton theatre group in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>Fraser\u2019s plays, with their rough-edged characters, street-wise dialogue, and pop culture references, have always placed him as an outsider within the theatre world. As a result, every production was a fight to the finish, with Fraser insisting on, among other things, keeping his unlikable\/gay characters and stories at the forefront in the face of a world that just didn\u2019t get it. (An Epilogue gives a passionate call to arms against \u201cdisappearing the queer\u201d \u2014 embodied in the many requests he\u2019s had over the years to tone down his characters, or even outright to make his leads straight rather than gay.)<\/p>\n<p>But, when it works, it works sublimely. \u201cTheatre is a very involving medium. Theatre requires the audience to use their imagination a lot,\u201d he says. \u201cThe way we invest in theatre \u2014 we love it when it\u2019s good, but we hate it when it\u2019s bad. That power that it has works both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The book also details Fraser\u2019s often fractious relationship with the media. At first ignored, then lauded (particularly once his plays had begun to garner notice outside of Canada), then later vilified, he doesn\u2019t spare his critiques of the fourth estate. (In fact, a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fraser_brad\/status\/1398682755735736321\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent Tweet<\/a> caustically noted the lack of coverage for the book in <em>The Globe and Mail.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p>He realizes, however, that the flack and the struggle are all the price he\u2019s paid for colouring outside the lines. His vision of theatre can\u2019t happen any other way \u2014 it has to be messy, abrasive, in your face. There\u2019s a message, but it has to be embodied in the stories he tells.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has to be personal,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re lecturing them, they\u2019re not interested.\u201d In his difficult and multi-dimensional characters, he\u2019s often set out to portray the very qualities that he\u2019s been criticized for. \u201cTo try and tell stories that embody what I want to talk about \u2014 that\u2019s something I\u2019ve taken great pride in,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Because of his outsider status, his observation has been that his audiences most often skew outside the usual demographic for theatre crowds too. \u201cI tend to bring people from outside the theatre inside the theatre,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf you\u2019re lecturing them, they\u2019re not interested.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Are there any gems of wisdom gleaned from the decades? \u201cKeep fighting and kick in the door,\u201d he says. \u201cI started fighting against the hegemony of theatre from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And no, it doesn\u2019t get easier. \u201cIt has never been easy for me. To this day, it\u2019s still a fight,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of crazy that after 40 years I still have to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If anything, he\u2019s hoping the book will shed light on his story in a way that reaches out to others who might be starting out from a place of disadvantage, just as he did. \u201cThe important thing about the book for me is, hopefully you get the idea that you can break free,\u201d he says. \u201cThere was a lot of pain in my childhood, but a lot of that pain resulted in big gains early in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The book is honest, unsparing, and peppered with explicit language \u2014 much like the man himself.<\/p>\n<p><em>All The Rage<\/em> is now available from Doubleday Canada.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig van Daily \u2014 classical music and opera in five minutes or less <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ludwig-van.us9.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=4f785cb3f9058f2393ccad035&amp;id=57cdb68eac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>HERE<\/em><\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In \u2018All The Rage\u2019, Brad Fraser\u2019s early life and career span a pivotal era in Canadian theatre, LGBTQ2S rights  \u2014 and world history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":71226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[38476,7,29,20506,62,63],"tags":[39696,39697,39698,6462],"yst_prominent_words":[11027,7140,32535,28964,18486,10167,7014,8973,12016],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/INTERVIEW-Brad_Fraser.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-iwN","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71225"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71230,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71225\/revisions\/71230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71225"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=71225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}