Headshot by Annie Bowers
Dan Bray (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist living in beautiful Kjipuktuk (Halifax) who has been fortunate enough to work with several of Nova Scotia's finest companies and theatre schools - as a playwright, director, educator, actor, dramaturg, and more. As Artistic Director of The Villains Theatre, he has written, directed, and adapted many shows including Jackson Elementary, International Waters, Zomblet, Knight of the Bat, Hänsel und Gretel in: der Garten von Edible Horrors: a Terrible Parable, Dinostories, and Observatory Mansions.
Dan's work has been performed across the maritimes, as well as in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Most recently, his new musical adaptation of Beauty & the Beast was produced by Shakespeare by the Sea for their 2026 summer season. In 2024, Dan's original mystery Deepwater received the national Playwrights Guild of Canada Drama Award and the Robert Merritt Award ("Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian"); it was also shortlisted for the international Risk Tragedy Award, named "First Runner-Up" in the inaugural Jenny Munday Atlantic Canadian Play competition, and has been programmed as part of Neptune Theatre's 2026-27 season.
Deepwater production photos by James MacLean (2023).
Tom Hendry Award photo by Larry Zacharko (2023).
Merritt Award photo by James MacLean
Dan sits on the board of the Bus Stop Theatre Cooperative and the Halifax Fringe Festival. He is the ongoing co-producer of the TNS Robert Merritt Awards, and he received his MA from the University of Toronto’s Graduate Centre for Study of Drama.
To check out Dan's complete CV, click here.
To program his work through the Playwrights Guild of Canada, click here.
More images and information on Dan’s work can be found at www.villainstheatre.com.
current projects
The Jackson Elementary Grade 6 Drama Club presents: BLOOD & SNOW: THE DONNER PARTY’S FATAL FORAY INTO THE SIERRA NEVADA WILDERNESS - at the Halifax Fringe Festival
Onstage now at the Halifax Fringe Festival...
Welcome to Jackson Elementary, where Mrs Hazel's Grade 6 class is about to unveil the skit they've devised for “Pioneer Week.” What ensues is a pitch-black, fairly-historically-accurate tragicomedy about America's most notorious overlanders: the doomed Donner Party. An adorable meditation on Manifest Destiny, colonialism, and the settler's desire for expansion, even at their own expense... Winner of the Toronto Fringe's 2026 24-Hour Playwriting Competition!
Photos by Stoo Metz
Platypus Play
What do you do if you don’t seem to fit in anywhere? This joyful, silly, and energetic show features an insecure platypus who is worried about all the ways that they are different. With catchy songs and a cast of characters who each have something in common with our platypus friend, this story is about finding your people and celebrating who you are! Written by the award-winning team Dan Bray and Colleen Arcturus MacIsaac, this fun new musical play is for children ages 3+ and the people who drive them around.
Free performance Sept 13!