Although he studied acting and directing, Brad won the Alberta Culture Playwrighting Competition in 1978, and went on to win it four more times. His first play, “Mutants”, was produced by Walterdale Theatre in 1980, which Brad also directed. Despite nearly being cancelled the show was the best selling of the season, and was seen by Paul Thompson, AD of Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto; which led directly to the production of his next play, “Wolfboy”, at 25th Street Theatre in Saskatoon. The play went on to be produced in Edmonton at Theatre Network, in Vancouver at Touchstone Theatre, and in Toronto at Theatre Passe Muraille, where it gave an unknown Keanu Reeves his first work as an actor.

Brad’s next show was meant to be one of Paul Thompson’s famous collective creations but ended up becoming a show written and directed by Brad called, “Rude Noises for a Blank Generation”, produced in TPM’s backspace. This was followed by “Chainsaw Love”, produced at the second Edmonton Fringe Festival, and “Young Art”, produced by TPM under the direction of Paul Thompson in 1986.

In 1985 Brad, disillusioned with the theatre and the reception to his plays, started work on a script he thought would never have a chance at being produced as it broke so many rules. That play eventually became “Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love”. After nearly five years of looking for a production and being turned down by nervous or angry theatres, Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary decided to produce the show as part of its new play festival.

From its first preview it was clear “Remains” was a play that was unlike most other plays, and a huge hit. Critical reaction was mixed, audience reaction was not, and the run was SRO. A hit production that ran on and off for nearly three years opened in Toronto at Crow’s Theatre, Brad did his own production for Workshop West in Edmonton- WW had provided support for the early phases of the show- and a stellar production at Theatre Quat-Sous in Montreal was a major success. The show went on to be produced worldwide, and to win numerous awards in Canada and abroad. It was adapted into a film by Oscar winning Quebecois filmmaker Denys Arcand, and after being translated into many languages, it is still frequently produced in different countries thirty-five years later.

This success opened a great many doors for Brad. The plays, “The Ugly Man”, “Poor Super Man”, and “Martin Yesterday” followed, with “Poor Super Man” achieving a success that rivaled “Remains”, while stirring up nearly as much controversy. These plays were praised and reviled in equal parts, but “Poor Super Man” earned Fraser his second listing in Time Magazine’s Top Ten Plays of the year list, after “Remains”. Fraser directed the film version of “PSM” called “Leaving Metropolis”, which won the Audience Favourite Film Award at the Sydney, Australia Gay Film Festival in 2002. 

As a playwright and actor, her fifth one-person play, Guilt (a love story) directed by Alisa Palmer, premiered at the Tarragon, and then toured to the Centaur and the RMTC to rave reviews, and is headed to Victoria and the Western Canadian Theatre Company. Diane also recently co-wrote and acted in a new play, PALS, at the WJT, directed by Jillian Keiley, with her theatrical brother, Richard Greenblatt, with whom she also wrote SIBS and CARE, both for the Tarragon Theatre. Diane and Richard adapted SIBS into a film for CBC and an audio play for PlayMe(CBC). Also written for the Tarragon, is her play about medical risk and compassion, Waiting Room. She also wrote and starred in Unholy, her hit, critically acclaimed play about women and religion for Nightwood Theatre, directed by Kelly Thornton. Unholy was remounted twice in Toronto, nominated for a Dora for outstanding new play, and was filmed live for TV

Selected theatre acting credits: most recently, Diane played Constance in Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet for Perchance theatre in NFLD, directed by Alisa Palmer. She also played Mayer Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy for Theatre Calgary, (nominated for a Betty Mitchell award for best ensemble and production) directed by Sarah Garton Stanley. Diane appeared in the adaptation of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees, directed by Alisa Palmer at CanStage, NAC, Neptune and the Grand theatres. FOYK was Dora nominated, and a recipient of a number of Robert Merritt awards in Halifax. Diane played the titular role of Nathan in Nathan the Wise in Stratford. Diane also received a Dora nomination for outstanding performance in Body Politic, by Nick Green, directed by Alisa Palmer. Currently she is touring in the new play Spycraft, launching at the Theatre Centre.

Diane’s four other solo shows Myth Me, By A Thread, Random Acts and Bear With Me (adapted from her book of the same name), have been critically acclaimed and remounted internationally. She played the lead in the independent queer film Portrait of A Serial Monogamist. She was CBC radio’s national parenting columnist for 7 years, and a featured columnist at The Toronto Star for four years. She has written the Dora Awards for the last 8 years. Diane is the proud mom of two astonishing sons.

Known for his deeply moving, large-scale original musical creations, Payette’s work challenges the public’s notion of what musicals can be, inserting Indigenous perspectives and narratives into mainstream spaces, igniting conversations that inspire social change. Payette’s work explores themes of colonization, Indigenous language revitalization, cultural healing, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and the complexity of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences across music, theatre, and film. Payette’s deeply collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and community engaged creation process has been integral in shining a light on stories that have gone unheard for generations. In 2021, Payette received the inaugural BC Award for Reconciliation from The Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, created to honour those who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, respect, and commitment to furthering Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the province of British Columbia.
 
Payette has been the Artistic Director of Urban Ink since 2014, an Indigenous and Culturally Diverse creation company in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, past Artist-in-Residence and Associate Artist with English Theatre at Canada’s National Arts Centre, and founding Artistic Director of Raven Theatre, focusing on his new musical works. Payette has served as Artistic Associate with Full Circle: First Nations Performance, Talking Stick Festival, and The Indigenous Cycle at the National Arts Centre, an investigation into the broad spectrum of the Indigenous body of work being created within Canada’s borders. This cycle resulted in the creation of a new department of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre, which launched its inaugural season in 2019.
 
As a musical creator, Payette writes the music, lyrics, and directs the productions. His original musical Children of God has been performed across Canada since 2017 at The Cultch (Vancouver), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Citadel Theatre (Edmonton), Western Canada Theatre (Kamloops), Segal Centre (Montreal), Vernon Performing Arts Centre (Vernon), Capitol Theatre (Nelson), Key City Theatre (Cranbrook), Surrey Arts Centre (Surrey), and NVIT (Merritt). Upcoming tours planned across the Prairies and Northern Territories.
 
His second musical Les Filles du Roi (The King’s Daughters) written in English, French, and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) with Julie McIsaac had its world premiere in 2018 at The Cultch (Vancouver). In 2021, Payette directed a film adaptation produced by Urban Ink and Raven Theatre that is to be presented by the Cultch in 2023. Payette’s third musical Sedna co-created with Reneltta Arluk and Marshall McMahen had its world premiere at Caravan Farm Theatre in 2018, and had its Vancouver premiere postponed due to the pandemic.
 
In 2023, his original musical Starwalker premiered at the York Theatre. In 2021, Starwalker began development under Warner Media / Access Canada writer’s program as a television series. Payette next original musical On Native Land is currently in development with Raven Theatre and Urban Ink and his following original musical has been commissioned by the Stratford Festival.

As a director, other credits include: Moonlodge (Urban Ink/NAC English Theatre), associate director for A Christmas Carol (NAC English Theatre 2017 & 2018), and most recently made his film directing debut with Stories that Transform Us which premiered at VIFF in 2021, Guide My Way concert film at Transform 2023 and Les Filles du Roi feature film that was released in 2023 and has played over 10 International film festivals, currently featured on the TIFF film circuit, and has won Best Feature Film, Best Original Score, and Best Director at the Flathead Lake International Cinemafest, Best Original Score at the Leo Awards, and Best Music at the Hamilton Film Festival.
 
Corey holds a B.F.A. in Music Composition from York University, and composed the film score to the documentary AMIN AMIR (OMNI TV). He is the past Grand Chief of the Board of Directors of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (IPAA) and past board member of Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society providing mental, physical, and spiritual relief to Indigenous peoples on the DTES (Vancouver, BC).

Payette has three musical albums “The Music from Children of God”, “The Music from Les Filles du Roi”, and “The Music from Sedna”, Children of God, Les Filles du Roi, and Starwalker scripts have been published through Scirocco Drama, and piano/vocal songbooks are available as well. He is the recipient of the John Hirsch Prize from the Canada Council, Fleck Fellowship from the Banff Centre, has won 4 Ovation Awards and 2 Jessie Awards for his writing and directing work. He lives in East Van with his husband Marshall and tuxedo cat Mabel.