Canadian playwright (born 1960)

Bryden MacDonald (born October 30, 1960 in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian playwright.

His best known plays include Whale Riding Weather, which was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English drama at the 1994 Governor General's Awards, and With Bated Breath, which was a shortlisted nominee in the Drama category at the 2011 Lambda Literary Awards. His other plays include The Weekend Healer (1994), Divinity Bash / nine lives (1998), The Extasy of Bedridden Riding Hood (2004), and Odd Ducks (2015; GG finalist), as well as musical tributes to Leonard Cohen (Sincerely, A Friend, 1991), Carole Pope and Rough Trade (Shaking the Foundations, 1999) and Joni Mitchell (When All the Slaves Are Free, 2003).

MacDonald is also a theatre director, most noted for his productions of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw and Judith Thompson's Perfect Pie. He has taught at the National Theatre School of Canada, and served as playwright in residence at the Stratford Festival.

He is openly gay.

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