Brad Fraser Feels the Heat

In his plays Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love and Poor Superman, Fraser explores themes involving sexuality and the seamier sides of life and the dramas, not surprisingly, create controversy. When Poor Superman came out there was a lot of criticism, and some playhouses stopped production because of the sexual content. The play involved a married, presumably straight man who has an affair with the play's leading character, a gay man. In Unidentified Human Remains there was also a lot of sexual content, but the most shocking part was the revelation that the lead's best friend is a serial killer preying on women.

So, it didn't come as a surprise to Fraser that productions of the recently published Martin Yesterday also raised some eyebrows. Originally commissioned by BBC Radio, Martin Yesterday captures a slice-of-life from the world of its characters who, in typical Fraser fashion, come from varied backgrounds, but somehow become intertwined. At the play's core is Martin Yesterday, a forty-something openly gay politician, who takes me responsibility for what occurs in his life and gives his personal power over to others. The play also examines the relationship of two comic book artists, Matt and Rachel. They have been creative partners on their comic for years until major offers start pouring in only for Matt. Matt also sees Martin as his opportunity for finding "real" love.

The Edmonton-born Fraser now makes his home in Toronto, although he often visits the city of his birth, and says that he is working towards a new direction in his writing.

Kirman: Tell me about Martin Yesterday. What kind of character was he like for you to create?

Fraser: Martin was a really difficult character to create because he's not a very sympathetic one. He has to be human as well as being real, and he wasn't a character that I particularly liked for along time. Because of that it was much harder to get into his head and try to find what made him tick, and it took me two productions of the show to be able to do it. So many of the things that Martin does are quite reprehensible and yet I think they are completely understandable too, if you know anything about the world that he is coming from.

Kirman: What is it like when you are creating a character that you yourself don't like? How do you keep yourself from getting so repulsed that you just don't want to deal with it anymore?

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