Join comedian Gavin Crawford in conversation with author Brad Fraser about his new book, All the Rage: A Partial Memoir in Two Acts and a Prologue which chronicles his rise to fame as a playwright, amid the terrors of the AIDS era. This video is a recording of a live event hosted by the Ottawa Public Library on May 25, 2021.
SPECIAL THANKS
A very warm thank you to Brad Fraser and moderator Gavin Crawford, to the Ottawa International Writers Festival and to Qu’ART Ottawa Queer Arts Collective for this amazing program!
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Brad Fraser is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator. 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.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Gavin Crawford is one of Canada's brightest comedic and dramatic performers — best known for star turns on THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, and his eponymous The Gavin Crawford Show on the Comedy Network. This Second City alum and Gemini Award-winner has made a serious (and seriously funny) contribution to this country's rich comedic tradition. Gavin Crawford is originally from Taber, Alberta.
Crawford's work has been honoured with the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Performance by a Male, two Dora Awards, the ACTRA Award for Outstanding Male Actor, and a Canadian Screen Award for best writing of a comedy program. He has also produced several one-man shows, including the sold-out Fringe Festival hit, "Friend" "Like" #Me.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Brad Fraser suffered an impoverished and abusive childhood, living with his teenage parents in motel rooms and shacks on the side of the highway in Alberta and Northern British Columbia. He grew to be one of the most celebrated, and controversial, Canadian playwrights, his work produced to acclaim all over the world.
All the Rage chronicles Brad Fraser's rise as he breaks with his past and enrolls as a performing arts student. He is pulled into the newly developing Canadian theatre scene, where he shows great promise. But his early career is one of challenge after challenge, some of which result from his upbringing and prejudice against his queerness. But just as many challenges arise from his combative personality and willingness to challenge the establishment. Few Canadian artists have been as abrasive, notorious and polarizing as Fraser was in his youth. Woven through this tale of artistic development is his journey as a queer man coming into himself during the most exhilarating period in the Gay Liberation Movement, and the dawn of a global health crisis. What should have been a triumphant time in a young, successful playwright's life was blighted with the terrifying emergence of AIDS, and the sickness and death of comrades and lovers. This is both the story of an artist's evolution and an important work of gay history that has rarely been recounted from a Canadian perspective. Written with Fraser's trademark wit and candour, All the Rage is unsparing, sometimes shocking and always enthralling.
OTTAWA PUBLIC LIBRARY PROGRAMMING
Each year, the Ottawa Public Library offers hundreds of programs in English and French. In addition to staples such as author visits and technology help, we offer programming on a wide variety of topics from fitness to cooking to science. Check our website at Visit www.biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/program for a full list of free programs and events being offered, our online resources, and books to borrow.
Music by: Blue Dot Sessions
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