James Odin Wade

James Odin Wade is a playwright based in Calgary, Alberta. He has developed or presented work with theatre organizations including Lunchbox Theatre, The Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, multiple Canadian Fringe Festivals, The University of Lethbridge, The University of Calgary, Workshop West Playwrights Theatre, Death & Pretzels, Steel River Playhouse, and The Road Theater Company.

His work has garnered awards from across Canada and the United States including from the Alberta Playwriting Competition (Helmut’s Big Day), The National One-Act Playwriting Competition (In Case of Fire), and the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival (By the Book). James is the co-founder of the Calgary collective Red Phone Theatre and is a member of the 52nd Street Project in New York City. He...

James Odin Wade is a playwright based in Calgary, Alberta. He has developed or presented work with theatre organizations including Lunchbox Theatre, The Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, multiple Canadian Fringe Festivals, The University of Lethbridge, The University of Calgary, Workshop West Playwrights Theatre, Death & Pretzels, Steel River Playhouse, and The Road Theater Company.

His work has garnered awards from across Canada and the United States including from the Alberta Playwriting Competition (Helmut’s Big Day), The National One-Act Playwriting Competition (In Case of Fire), and the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival (By the Book). James is the co-founder of the Calgary collective Red Phone Theatre and is a member of the 52nd Street Project in New York City. He holds a BFA from the University of Lethbridge and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Calgary. In 2024, he was the recipient of an Emerging Artist Award from the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. He currently a member of the Citadel Theatre's Playwrights Lab.

He writes plays about the stories we tell in order to survive. They’re often funny, but not always, don’t hold him to that.

read more

Scripts

Please Return to Empire Video

by James Odin Wade

1
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy

A coming-of-age comedy in a video store.

2003. VHS is out, and DVDs are in, and thousands of tapes have been unloaded on a small franchise location of Empire Video in southern Alberta. Friends Cass and Owen, and their surly coworker Thomas, have to survive a shift of endless sorting, stickering, and rewinding in time to get to an advanced screening of The Matrix Reloaded. Between movie references and workplace...

A coming-of-age comedy in a video store.

2003. VHS is out, and DVDs are in, and thousands of tapes have been unloaded on a small franchise location of Empire Video in southern Alberta. Friends Cass and Owen, and their surly coworker Thomas, have to survive a shift of endless sorting, stickering, and rewinding in time to get to an advanced screening of The Matrix Reloaded. Between movie references and workplace shenanigans, the world of the video store begins to unspool around them, testing their friendship as never before.

read more

Everyone is Doing Fine

by James Odin Wade

Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
drama

Art, sex, and capitalism collide in this fast-paced comedy-drama when two listless art school grads are hired by a wealthy hedge fund manager. As their worlds collide in unexpected ways, the friends begin to wonder whose futures are being bought and sold.

Art, sex, and capitalism collide in this fast-paced comedy-drama when two listless art school grads are hired by a wealthy hedge fund manager. As their worlds collide in unexpected ways, the friends begin to wonder whose futures are being bought and sold.

By the Book

by James Odin Wade

1
Cast Size
5
Genre
comedy,
satire

When The Main Character is found dead, Detective Kevin Chen is tasked with finding the killer before the story falls apart. As things begin to unravel, these stock characters compete for their own version of the story, and Kevin must decide what type of character he wants to be. Find out at 6/7 Central!

When The Main Character is found dead, Detective Kevin Chen is tasked with finding the killer before the story falls apart. As things begin to unravel, these stock characters compete for their own version of the story, and Kevin must decide what type of character he wants to be. Find out at 6/7 Central!

In Tongues

by James Odin Wade

1
Cast Size
5
Genre
drama,
horror,
mystery/thriller

Full-Length. When Cara, a true-crime author, dies suddenly alone in her British Columbia cabin while researching a famous serial killer, her husband and little sister are left grief-stricken and searching for answers. When they both happen to show up at the cabin they agree to work together to try and uncover how Cara might have died, despite some shared secrets. What they find there begins to reveal new sides...

Full-Length. When Cara, a true-crime author, dies suddenly alone in her British Columbia cabin while researching a famous serial killer, her husband and little sister are left grief-stricken and searching for answers. When they both happen to show up at the cabin they agree to work together to try and uncover how Cara might have died, despite some shared secrets. What they find there begins to reveal new sides to Cara, her investigation, and themselves. 80 minutes, 3F, 2M (Drama)

read more

In Case of Fire

by James Odin Wade

Cast Size
2
Genre
dark comedy

One-Act. Ben and Jordan are a young Mormon couple whose life is thrown into chaos when Ben's confession that he doesn't believe in God sends them on a strange trial period where the two reckon with faith, life, death and their relationship. A heavy-comic exploration of a relationship through the lens of a crisis-of-faith.

One-Act. Ben and Jordan are a young Mormon couple whose life is thrown into chaos when Ben's confession that he doesn't believe in God sends them on a strange trial period where the two reckon with faith, life, death and their relationship. A heavy-comic exploration of a relationship through the lens of a crisis-of-faith.

Resistance

by James Odin Wade

1
Cast Size
2
Genre
biography,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
period

Full-Length. Resistance is a story about a director named Jean-Pierre Melville and a young filmmaker named Dominique Peyroux, who has a film pitch that takes them both on a journey through the French Resistance. As the two of them test each other, they reckon with a difficult past and an uncertain future.

Full-Length. Resistance is a story about a director named Jean-Pierre Melville and a young filmmaker named Dominique Peyroux, who has a film pitch that takes them both on a journey through the French Resistance. As the two of them test each other, they reckon with a difficult past and an uncertain future.

Helmut's Big Day

by James Odin Wade

Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
dark comedy

One-Act. Sabir and Katar defend the empire from atop the wall separating the Great Plain from the Barren Plain. But wait. Which plain is which? They’re going to have to figure it out quick: there are riders approaching, the wolfing hour is closing in and Sabir keeps talking to his helmet.

One-Act. Sabir and Katar defend the empire from atop the wall separating the Great Plain from the Barren Plain. But wait. Which plain is which? They’re going to have to figure it out quick: there are riders approaching, the wolfing hour is closing in and Sabir keeps talking to his helmet.

WILF

by James Odin Wade

2
Cast Size
3
Genre
comedy,
satire

One-Act. When Marc and Penelope invite over a young woman who has been raised by wolves, a bizarre and sexy competition for her affection comes between their friendship as everyone's animal instincts come to the surface.

One-Act. When Marc and Penelope invite over a young woman who has been raised by wolves, a bizarre and sexy competition for her affection comes between their friendship as everyone's animal instincts come to the surface.

Greetings From Sardineland

by James Odin Wade

2
Cast Size
4
Genre
comedy,
docudrama/historic,
satire

One-Act. A comedy about Sam and Max, two friends who produce a violent detective comic in the 1950s. When the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency comes after their comic for its violent content Sam and Max's careers and friendships are put on trial.

One-Act. A comedy about Sam and Max, two friends who produce a violent detective comic in the 1950s. When the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency comes after their comic for its violent content Sam and Max's careers and friendships are put on trial.

Big Dogs

by James Odin Wade

3
Cast Size
2
Genre
comedy,
satire

10-Minute Play. A very important interview at a very important company selling a very important product. It's all very important, you see. 1F, 1M

10-Minute Play. A very important interview at a very important company selling a very important product. It's all very important, you see. 1F, 1M

A Song of Bucephalus

by James Odin Wade

2
Cast Size
3
Genre
biography,
comedy,
parody/spoof,
period

One-Act. (Co-written with Jeremy Park) James and Jeremy have shown up to tell the story of Alexander the Great's horse using the time-honoured tradition of Two-Person Horse Costume (or TPHC for those in the industry). After a technical issue gets in their way the two must figure out how to finish the show with a two-assed horse.

One-Act. (Co-written with Jeremy Park) James and Jeremy have shown up to tell the story of Alexander the Great's horse using the time-honoured tradition of Two-Person Horse Costume (or TPHC for those in the industry). After a technical issue gets in their way the two must figure out how to finish the show with a two-assed horse.