Ti-Jon David "TJ" Dawe (born August 22, 1974) is a Canadian playwright and director.

Early life

Dawe was born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He studied theatre at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

in 1997.

Career

Dawe has worked extensively in

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

festivals in Canada and the US. Other festival appearances include the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, the Edinburgh Fringe and the Adelaide Fringe. He wrote and performed the monologues ''Tired Cliches'', ''Labrador'', ''The Slipknot'', ''Tracks'' (adapted from Jack London’s memoir The Road), ''A Canadian Bartender at Butlin's'', ''The Curse of the Trickster'', ''Maxim and Cosmo'', ''Totem Figures'', ''Lucky 9'', ''Medicine'', ''Marathon'', ''Burn Job'', ''Roller Coaster'' and ''Operatic Panic Attack''. He co-wrote the plays ''52 Pick-up'' (with Rita Bozi), ''Toothpaste and Cigars'' (with Mike Rinaldi), ''The Power of Ignorance'' (with Chris Gibbs), and ''Dishpig'' (with Greg Landucci). He adapted ''The Doctor is Sick'' from the novel by Anthony Burgess. He dramaturged and/or directed many one person shows, including ''The One Man Star Wars Trilogy'', ''One Man Lord of the Rings'', ''One Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody'', ''Teaching As You Like It'', ''Teaching the Fringe'', ''Rant Demon'', ''Local Celebrity'', ''Mr Fox'', ''The Big Oops'', ''Sev'', ''Elephant'', ''Never Shoot a Stampede Queen'', ''Greener Than Thou'', ''Bookworm'', ''The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper'', ''Richard Lett: Sober But Never Clean'', ''Richard Lett: One Nut Only'', ''Ten Tips for a Collapsed Uterus'', ''The Mirror Test'', ''Tragedy + Time Served = Comedy'', ''Not Enough'', ''Periscope'', ''Awkward Hug'', ''Razor'' and ''Didn't Hurt''. He teaches a course on creating solo shows at Langara College in Vancouver. ''A Canadian Bartender at Butlin's'' was broadcast on Bravo Canada and CBC Radio. ''The Slipknot'', ''Labrador'', and ''The Power of Ignorance'' have been published by Brindle and Glass, as well as a ''Power of Ignorance'' humor book (also co-written with Chris Gibbs). ''Toothpaste and Cigars'', ''A Canadian Bartender at Butlin's'', and ''Tracks'' were published by 13th Tiger Press. ''Totem Figures'' was published in the Winter 2010 issue of Canadian Theatre Review, and has been used as the text in an English class at

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

DeLand, Florida DeLand is a city in central Florida. It is the county seat of Volusia County. The city sits approximately north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. As of the 2020 ...

. Dawe has written extensively for the group ideas blog BeamsandStruts.com, and delivered a talk at TEDx Manitoba on the subject in February 2012. He has also released numerous podcasts on the subject of personal influence (Totem Figures). Dawe co-created, directed and performed in PostSecret: the Show, a stage adaptation of the blog PostSecret, co-created by founder Frank Warren, Justin Sudds and Kahlil Ashanti. PostSecret: the Show was workshopped in Vancouver, Silver Spring, MD, Saginaw, MI and Cincinnati, OH. It debuted at the Blumenthal Centre for the Performing Arts in Charlotte, NC in April 2014, and has done two US tours, in 2016 and 2018. Dawe directed ''Musical Thrones: a Parody of Ice and Fire'' which toured the US in 2018. His show ''Medicine'' chronicles his experiences with Dr. Gabor Mate and the psychotropic shamanic plant medicine ayahuasca. He has been joined onstage by Dr. Mate for talkbacks after some performances. A recording of the show and some talkbacks can be found on YouTube. His play ''Toothpaste and Cigars'' (co-written with Mike Rinaldi) was adapted into the feature film '' The F Word'' (2013), directed by

Michael Dowse Michael Dowse (born April 19, 1973) is a Canadian director. Life and career Born in London, Ontario, to Irish parents, he was trained as a film editor. His first full-length movie, ''FUBAR'' was shot on a digital camera with a tiny budget, but w ...

, starring

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

and

Zoe Kazan Zoe Swicord Kazan (; born September 9, 1983) is an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter. She made her acting debut in the film ''Swordswallowers and Thin Men'' (2003) and later appeared in films such as '' The Savages'' (2007), ''Revol ...

. Dawe and Rinaldi have also written historical comedies for the Wildhorse Theatre in

Fort Steele Fort Steele is a heritage site in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. This visitor attraction lies on the east shore of the Kootenay River between the mouths of the St. Mary River (British Columbia), St. Mary River and Wild H ...

, a spoof history of the city of Vancouver, and the Christmas play Old Nick for the Caravan Farm Theatre. He maintains a strong interest in the

Enneagram of Personality The Enneagram of Personality, or simply the Enneagram (from the Greek words meaning "nine"and meaning something "written" or "drawn", is a model of the Psyche (psychology), human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a ...

, earning his teacher's certification from the Enneagram Institute. He gave the closing address at the International Enneagram Association's conference in Cincinnati, July 2018, titled ''Star Wars and the Kingdom of Heaven''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawe, Tj 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Fringe theatre Living people Writers from Vancouver 1974 births Canadian theatre directors University of Victoria alumni Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers