Nov 7, 2023

This season I’m excited to be part of the Playwrights Lab at The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton! I will be joining playwrights Katherine Koller, Sue Goberdhan, and Collin Doyle for this year’s cohort, creating new work under the guidance of renowned playwright and CItadel Artistic Associate Mieko Ouchi. Learn more here.

September 30, 2023

From a total of over 11,000 submissions across categories, Everyone is Doing Fine has been selected as a semifinalist in the Austin Film Festival’s Playwriting Competition! Read more here.

July 25, 2023

Everyone is Doing Fine has been shortlisted for the Sharon Pollock Prize! This is the top prize in the Alberta Playwriting Competition, administered by Alberta Playwrights Network. Winners will be announced on August 11th via Zoom. Find out more about the prize and the shortlisted plays at Alberta Playwrights Network’s website.

July 25, 2023

Big Dogs will be a part of Alberta Playwrights Network’s 1000 Monkeys Project, a showcasing of five ten-minute plays by Calgary playwrights, presented as part of the Calgary Fringe Festival. Find ticket information here.

June 24, 2023

Tickets are now on sale for the reading of Everyone is Doing Fine at the Road Theater Company in Los Angeles. The reading will be directed by Brian Shnipper and take place on July 16. Tickets here!












June 10, 2023

Everyone is Doing Fine has been selected as part of The Road Theater Company’s Summer Playwrights Festival! From the website: The 14th annual Summer Playwrights Festival will take place with in-person staged readings over the course of ten days from July 7th to 16th, 2023 at The Road Mainstage on Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood, California.

May 2, 2023

Please Return to Empire Video has been selected to be a part of Lunchbox Theatre’s 2023 Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work, running June 2-3 and 16-17. Catch the in-person reading or live stream of Empire Video on June 3 at 12:00 pm, directed by Bronwyn Steinberg, and featuring performances by Kristen Padayas, John Tasker, and Bernardo Pacheco. Learn more about the festival here.

April 11, 2023

By The Book has been published! Bayou Magazine is an international literary magazine published by the University of New Orleans. Issue 77 will include poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and the winner of the 2022 Tennessee Williams One-Act Play Contest (that’s me). Read about or order the latest issue here.

Bayou Magazine Issue 77, featuring my play By The Book!



















March 20, 2023

Read Liz Nicholls’ preview of Workshop West’s 2023 Springboards Festival here. Look, I’m a young up-and-comer!

March 4, 2023

Everyone is Doing Fine will be featured as part of Workshop West Playwrights Theatre’s 2023 Springboards Festival in Edmonton, Alberta!

December 10, 2022

This Monday, December 12th, Verb Theatre will be hosting their event, “My First Play”, where Calgary playwrights will be sharing their early and possibly embarrassing early writing in order to support Verb’s new season, which will include an excerpt of an early play by James. Check out Verb Theatre here.

Sept 1, 2022

In Tongues has been announced as a semifinalist in Panndora Productions’ “Sweet Sixteen” New Works Festival! The five finalists will be announced ahead of the festival in October. Learn more here.

July 11, 2022

Tickets are now on sale for In Case of Fire at the Calgary Fringe, July 29-August 6! It will play at the Alexandra Centre Society in Inglewood in Calgary, produced by S + S Productions. Get your tickets here!

March 8, 2022

By the Book has been named the winner of the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival’s One-Act Play Competition!

The festival will take place March 23-27 in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, and feature five days of performances, discussions, panels, and other literary events. On Sunday the 27th, By the Book will enjoy a staged reading directed by UNO theatre professor, David Hoover. Learn more about the festival at tennesseewilliams.net.

January 20, 2022

In Case of Fire will be produced this summer at the Calgary Fringe Festival! Produced by S & S Productions, starring Siobhan Cooney and Spencer Streichert, and directed by Cayley Wreggit, the Fringe is on from July 29 - August 6, 2022.

January 3, 2022

News! By the Book has been named as a finalist in the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Arts Festivals’ One Act Play Competition. The winner is still being decided and will be announced in February. Learn more about the festival here.

December 15, 2021

On the latest episode of The Breakfast Dish, a podcast dedicated to theatre in Alberta, listen to actor Mike Tan discuss his career and latest projects, including the recent workshop of By the Book at Lunchbox Theatre.

September 24, 2021

I’m thrilled to be back at Lunchbox Theatre, workshopping my play, By the Book, as part of the Stage Two Festival of New Canadian Work. The workshop presentation will take place LIVE via Zoom, streamed from the Vertigo Theatre Studio in Calgary, Alberta on Saturday, October 2nd at 12 pm. Find out more here, including details on how to view the FREE live stream.


August 8, 2021

On Sunday, August 1st I had the pleasure of serving as a jury member for Alberta Playwrights Network’s 1000 Monkeys Project, in which nine Alberta playwrights competed to create the best play in under 24 hours. Congratulations to all the writers and to the finalists Camille Pavlenko, Dale Lee Kwong, Madeline Hunter-Smith, and Jake Rose, who had excerpts of their scripts read at the competition closing hosted by the 2021 Calgary Fringe Festival!

July 26, 2021

News! In Tongues is a semi-finalist in this year’s Princess Grace Award Playwriting Fellowship, administered by New Dramatists in New York City. Learn more about the Princess Grace Award here.

July 6, 2021

Having Nice Things has been named as a semifinalist in The Garry Marshall Theatre’s New Works Festival! Finalists will be announced on August 15th. Read about the festival and the other semifinalists here.

May 18, 2021

By The Book has been selected to be part of Lunchbox Theatre’s Stage One Festival of New Canadian Work 2021! The play will have a FREE public reading on June 6th over Zoom. Read about it here.

April 23, 2021

In Tongues has been named as a semifinalist in the Southern Inkslinger Playwriting Contest, presented by Southeastern Louisiana University! Learn more about the contest here.

December 17, 2020

The Gauntlet, my 30-minute comedy pilot, was announced as a quarterfinalist in Cinestory’s TV Retreat and Fellowship Contest.

September 30, 2020

My new ten-minute play Big Dogs has been named as a semi-finalist for Little Fish Theatre’s Pick of the Vine Festival, from hundreds of submissions. Finalists will be announced in November 2020, with the festival going forward in Winter 2021.

September 22nd, 2020

Words in Progress, an online play reading series based out of Calgary, AB, in association with Playwrights Guild of Canada will be presenting an excerpt of my newest full-length play, Having Nice Things, alongside other excerpts by Rebecca Comer and Deedra Salange Ladouceur live on YouTube. Discussion facilitated by Louise Casemore, with guest Hadeel Abdel-Nabi.

September 8, 2020

I was written about in Vanity Fair?! My wife, Sonia Saraiya, and her latest article, “How My Canadian Husband Became My Hot Pandemic Must-Have”.

August 15, 2020

Sadly, the production of In Tongues rescheduled for October has now been permanently canceled due to student and audience safety concerns related to COVID-19.

April 15, 2020

Last weekend, Steel River Playhouse hosted a public reading of In Tongues via Zoom. The video of the reading is now available on YouTube. Steel River is one of a number of theaters hurt by the global pandemic. If you would like to support them, you’ll be able to do that here. Both Steel River and I ask that you consider supporting your local theaters if you are able!

March 20, 2020

I had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Szymkowicz for his blog, 1000 Playwright Interviews. You can read my interview here.

March 14, 2020

The 2020 production of In Tongues at the University of Lethbridge has been postponed until October, due to concerns over COVID-19.

March 9, 2020

Rehearsals are underway for the production of In Tongues at the University of Lethbridge, running March 17-21. Tickets on sale here. Photograph by Ron Chambers.

October 25, 2019

On October 5th, In Tongues had a reading and discussion at Steel River Playhouse in Steel River, PA. Special thanks to director Chris Braak and dramaturg Megan Schumacher!

September 20, 2019

This October, WILF will be produced in South Carolina! It will be included in Winthrop University’s Fall One Acts Festival, put on by the Department of Theatre and Dance and directed by student Shane O’Reilly.

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August 15, 2019

In Tongues will receive its world premiere this coming March at the University of Lethbridge as part of their 2019-2020 Mainstage Season. The play was developed with the support of the U of L as part of the class, New Play Workshop with Gail Hanrahan (dramaturgy by Trevor Rueger). The play will be directed by Ron Chambers. More information about the season here!

June 17, 2019

This Wednesday, The Lark will be hosting an evening of works-in-progress readings from three of its volunteer members, including James, whose script Play House will be read and discussed. The evening will begin at 6:30 in the Lark’s Barebones studio in Manhattan.

June 14, 2019

Steel River Playhouse held its first reading of In Tongues on Sunday June 8th in Pottstown Pennsylvania. In the coming months the script will receive dramaturgy and be read again and adjudicated this fall. One play from the six in the festival will be chosen as the final show in Steel River’s 2019-2020 season.

April 30, 2019

In Tongues has been selected, from over 700 submissions, to be a part of The Refinery at Steel River Playhouse in Pottstown, Pennsylvania this June. This festival of new work will include workshops and staged readings of six new plays. Watch Steel River Playhouse’s website for more info about the festival.

March 3, 2019

This past weekend Helmut’s Big Day was performed in Smithers, British Columbia! The students of Hazelton Secondary school produced the play for the High School Drama Festival held annually in Smithers.

July 23, 2018

In Case of Fire has been named as a finalist in the Arts & Letters Drama Prize, run through Georgia College! Read more about the winner and other finalists here.

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April 30, 2018

This spring James led a guest workshop with the students of YOUth Riot - a Calgary program helping LGBTQ+ youth tell their stories through the medium of playwriting. On Monday, May 14th the students will have a showcase of their work. Find out more about the event via the Facebook event page!

 


April 30, 2018

On May 4th and 5th James will be teaching an introductory playwriting course as part of the Alberta High School Drama Festival in Red Deer Alberta.

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April 10, 2018

On April 11th the University of Lethbridge drama department will stage a reading of James' newest play, tentatively titled Found Objects. This is the culmination of James' work with the class New Play Workshop and will be directed by Gail Hanrahan. Information below!

 







February 2, 2018

On February 9th, an excerpt from In Case of Fire will be part of a night of staged readings called TC OUT LOUD, put on by Theatre Calgary. It will be read alongside excerpts of new works by Christopher Duthie, Geoffrey Simon Brown and Sharon Pollock. Learn more about the event here.

 

November 6, 2017

Starting in January, James will be a Visiting Artist at the University of Lethbridge! He will developing a new play in the Winter Semester class New Play Workshop with Professor Gail Hanrahan. The new script will be developed over the course of the semester, culminating in a staged reading in April of 2018.

 

August 22, 2017

Edmonton Fringe is in full swing and A Song of Bucephalus has received a glowing four and a half star review from Vue Weekly! Read it here.

 

August 9, 2017

Exciting news! Helmut's Big Day will be produced by Chicago's Death & Pretzels theatre company in September. The production will be done as one of three new one-act plays in Nox Arca Theatre: An Evening of One Acts.

 

August 1, 2017

James and the A Song of Bucephalus team were profiled in the Calgary Sun today, along with some other great local talent. Check out the article here. Our first show is on Saturday, August 5th and tickets are on sale now!

 

July 26, 2017

Bucephalus rides again! James and the Red Phone Theatre theatre team have returned from Regina, having finished the first stop on their Fringe tour of A Song of Bucephalus. Fringe reviewer Avianna Hudym called the show, "a true joy to watch" and we've been having a lot of fun putting it in front of audiences. Calgary and Edmonton are next! Tickets for A Song of Bucephalus at the Calgary Fringe are now on sale here!

 

June 14, 2017

On Saturday, June 24th James will participate in "Commissioned", a fundraiser for Alberta Playwrights Network. From the event description: Playwrights get an envelope of “mystery ingredients” & have 30 minutes to write. You get to vote on which play wasn’t very appetizing & that writer is eliminated. After two more rounds, a champion will emerge & win “The Commission’. You won't believe the challenges that the writers will have to overcome...it's fast, furious and hilarious.

Tickets are available here!

 

June 4, 2017

Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Texas, has named Resistance as a Finalist in their 2017 New Works Festival! The jury received over 800 submissions this year, only six of which will be presented as staged readings at the festival in Dallas June 17th - June 1st.

 

May 23, 2017

The teaser trailer has dropped for A Song of Bucephalus! Check it out here! A Song of Bucephalus will be at the Regina Fringe Festival July 2nd - 9th, the Calgary Fringe Festival August 4th-14th and the Edmonton Fringe Festival August 17th - 27th! For more info, check out Red Phone Theatre's Facebook page.

 

March 24, 2017

Big news! In Case of Fire has won First Prize in the 76th Annual Ottawa Little Theatre's National One-Act Playwriting Competition! James also won the 2nd Prize (the Dorothy White Award) in 2012 for Greetings from Sardineland. There will be a staged reading on April 22nd, followed by public dramaturgy on April 23rd at the Ottawa Little Theatre. Read more here!

 

March 20, 2017

On March 29th at the Lunchbox Theatre space, Hoodlum Theatre will be hosting a staged reading of Greetings from Sardineland as part of their Underground Sounds Fundraiser for their upcoming season! More info here!

 

March 15, 2017

2017 marks the ten-year anniversary of the University of Lethbridge's Play Right Prize Supported by Terry Whitehead and James is fortunate enough to have sat on the all-alumni jury for the 2017 competition. James won the prize in 2010 and 2011. Read all about this year’s winners here!

 

March 2, 2017

It's official! A Song of Bucephalus, produced by Red Phone Theatre, will be heading out on the road this summer on a Western Canada Fringe tour including Calgary, Edmonton, and Regina Fringe Festivals! A Song of Bucephalus is written by James Odin Wade and Jeremy Park. More info as it becomes available!

 

January 10, 2017

This past weekend James participated in the High-Performance Rodeo's annual kickoff event, the 10-Minute Play Festival, as part of the Swallow-a-Bicycle team. Read more about the event here.

 

December 30, 2016

A Song of Bucephalus has been accepted into the Calgary and Regina Fringe Festivals in 2017, with one or two fringe destinations likely to be added! More details on the show and where to see it coming soon!

 

September 24, 2016

This fall James is doing an internship with the 52nd Street Project in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. He will be assisting the staff with putting on one of their bi-annual Playmaking programs, which teaches kids of the neighborhood the fundamentals of theatre-making. The kids' first plays will be staged with professional actors in December 2016 in the Five Angels Theater in Manhattan.

 

July 12, 2016

A Song of Bucephalus, a new version of the play by James Wade and Jeremy Park will be presented as part of the third annual Common Ground Festival in Calgary, running July 13-23. Check Common Ground's Facebook page for information on the shows and how to get tickets.

 

July 12, 2016

WILF will be produced by Toronto's Theatre Genesis this August! It will be part of a double bill with Jessy Ardern's Harold and Vivian Entertain Guests. Stay tuned to Theatre Genesis' Facebook page for updates!

 

May 30, 2016

James has been featured in Playwrights Guild of Canada's Playwright Applause as an 'up and coming' playwright to watch out for. James was recommended by Sharon Pollock, one of five established playwrights asked by PGC to recommend an emerging playwright. More information from PGC's website.

 

May 2, 2016

James' script Waiting Room has been selected by Calgary's Lunchbox Theatre for inclusion in their annual Suncor Stage One Festival. The script will be workshopped and will culminate with a free public reading in late June. Please visit Lunchbox's website for more information on the festival.

 

March 20, 2016

On March 16, a workshop production of James Wade and Jeremy Park's new one-act comedy, A Song of Bucephalus premiered at the Calgary Region One Act Play Festival, starring Wade and Park. On awards night the play received Honourable Mentions in the categories of Outstanding Actor (Park), Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Script, and Outstanding Production. Stay tuned for more info about A Song of Bucephalus!

 

March 9, 2016

James' play Resistance, which is the culmination of his thesis work at the University of Calgary, will have public readings as part of the Taking Flight Festival of Student Work, running March 29-April 9. The readings will take place on the evenings of March 30 and April 1 at 7:30 in the Reeve Theatre at the University of Calgary. There will be a talkback after the reading on March 30. Tickets are available here: https://scpa.ucalgary.ca/events/taking-flight-festival-student-work-1

 

June 11, 2015

Red Phone Theatre has announced that their newest production, Helmut's Big Day, will be presented this summer at the Calgary and Edmonton Fringe Festivals. Helmut's Big Day was written by Wade in 2013 and won the 2014 Alberta Playwriting Competition Grand Prize. Red Phone has launched an Indiegogo campaign to offset the considerable costs of production. Please visit it the website to donate or find out more: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/helmut-s-big-day-fringe-tour/

 

June 5, 2015

Search Tower Theatre has selected Muse Control to be included in their 2015 Common Ground Festival, running from July 22 to August 1 at the Arts Commons' MOTEL Theatre in Calgary, Alberta. Check out their Facebook page for more information.

 

Mar. 30, 2015

James' newest script Waiting Room will receive two staged readings as part of the School of Creative and Performing Arts' Taking Flight: Festival of Student Work. The readings will be in the Reeve Theatre at the University of Calgary. For details and showtimes follow the link: https://scpa.ucalgary.ca/events/taking-flight-festival-student-work-0

 

Feb. 28, 2015

Helmut's Big Day, winner of the Grand in Prize in the Alberta Playwriting Competition, will receive a staged reading alongside Ryan Reese's Before The Night Takes Us, winner of the Discovery Prize. The reading will take place Sunday, March 1st, and will be hosted by several Playwrights Guild members at the Holy Trinity Church in Edmonton. Details below:

http://albertaplaywrights.squarespace.com/events/2015/3/1/yeg-script-salon-alberta-playwriting-competition-winners

 

Jan. 6, 2015

Helmut's Big Day, the winner of the 2014 Alberta Playwriting Competition Grand Prize, will receive a staged reading in Edmonton hosted by the Playwrights Guild of Canada in March 2015

https://www.playwrightsguild.ca/events/readings