Discipline: Theatre
Specialties: Playwriting, Shakespeare, Directing
Region: Halifax
Languages: English
Pronouns: He/Him
Dan Bray (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist living in beautiful Punamu’kwati’jk (Dartmouth). As Artistic Director of The Villains Theatre, he has written, directed, and adapted many shows (including Deepwater, International Waters, Shakespeare’s Time Machine, Hänsel und Gretel in: der Garten von Edible Horrors, Observatory Mansions, and Zomblet). He is a 10-time Merritt Award nominee and the 2022 Merritt Award winner for “”Outstanding Adaptation by a Nova Scotia Playwright”” (Hänsel und Gretel). Most recently, his original drama Deepwater was named “”First Runner Up”” for the inaugural Jenny Munday Atlantic Canadian Play Award and is nominated for PGC’s Ton Henry Award. Dan received an East Coast Music Award nomination for Dinostories (“Children’s Entertainer of the Year,” 2023). His work has been performed across the Maritimes, as well as in British Columbia and Ontario.
Dan has had the good luck of working with many of Nova Scotia’s finest theatre companies – as a playwright, director, actor, and dramaturge – including Two Planks & a Passion Theatre, Shakespeare by the Sea, Festival Antigonish, Mulgrave Road Theatre, and Phyllis Rising Productions.
Dan is the 2023-25 Merritt Co-Host/Producer, the former Vice Chair for the Halifax Fringe Festival, a two-time attendee of Playwright Atlantic Resource Centre’s annual retreat, and a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. He received his MA from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama in 2009.