Robert Chafe (born 1971)
''Waterfront Views: Contemporary Writing of Atlantic Canada''. is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

playwright and actor based in St. John's. He is the author of seventeen stage scripts and co-author of another eight. His play ''Afterimage'' won the

Governor General's Award for English language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awar ...

at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. He was previously nominated for the same award at the 2004 Governor General's Awards for his plays ''Butler's Marsh'' and ''Tempting Providence''. His other plays have included ''Place of First Light'' (cowritten with Sean Panting),Robert Chafe
at the

Playwrights Guild of Canada Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) is a Canadian charity that works to advance the creative rights and interests of professional Canadian playwrights; promote Canadian plays, and foster community of writers. It was founded in 1972. History PGC has ...

. ''Charismatic Death Scenes'', ''Belly Up'', ''Emptygirl'', ''Oil and Water'', ''Isle des Demons'',Robert Chafe
at doollee.com. ''Lemons'', ''One Foot Wet'', ''Signals'', ''Under Wraps'' and ''Vive La Rose''. Belly Up was also published in the ''Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Plays: Volume 3''. In 2016, he published a book of short stories, ''Two-Man Tent''. He has won numerous Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards, and was named 1998 Emerging Artist of the Year by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. In 2018,

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

awarded Chafe the degree of doctor of letters honoris causa “for his major contribution to Newfoundland theatre and culture.” Chafe has acted, both on stage and in the 2006 television miniseries '' Above and Beyond''. When Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland was formed in 1995, Chafe was an original cast member and, since 2000, has served as Artistic Director. Some of his first performances with Artistic Fraud were in the shows ''In Your Dreams, Freud; The Cheat; Jesus Christ Superstar; and Great Big Stick.'' In 2022 Chafe collaborated with Scott Jones on ''I Forgive You'', a play about the aftermath of Jones being left

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

by an anti-gay attack in 2013. Following the play's publication in book form, Chafe and Jones received a nomination for the

Governor General's Award for English-language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awa ...

at the

2024 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2024 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 8, 2024, and the winners were announced on November 13.Cassandra Drudi"Jordan Abel, Niigaan Sinclair among 2024 Governor General’s award ...

Early and personal life

Chafe is from Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. While there he attended Goulds elementary, McPherson Jr High and Bishops College. He and his three brothers were raised by William Robert Chafe (Petty Harbour, NL) who worked in the construction industry and Elizabeth Pynn (Carpoon, NL) who was a homemaker. He worked for his father's construction company until he was eighteen years old before joining the Elysian Theatre Company. He is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

."You're Not From Here: Place and Identity in Newfoundland Drama"
Michael Devine,

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

Bibliography

Plays

* ''Tempting Providence'' (2002) * ''Isle of Demons'' (2004) * ''Afterimage'' (2010) * ''Fear of Flight'' (2010) * ''Oil and Water'' (2011) * ''Under Wraps'' (2014) * ''The Colony of Unrequited Dreams'' (2015) * ''Between Breaths'' (2018)

Short stories

* ''Two-Man Tent'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chafe, Robert 1971 births Living people 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian gay writers Governor General's Award–winning dramatists Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male writers Writers from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian gay actors Gay dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people