{{short description|Canadian actor and playwright|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Infobox writer | name = Damien Atkins | birth_name = | birth_place = [[Australia]] | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = [[MacEwan University]] | occupation = actor, playwright | notableworks = Lucy, We Are Not Alone, Good Mother, The Gay Heritage Project | spouse = | website = {{URL|https://damienatkins.workbooklive.com/}} | years_active = 1989-present }} '''Damien Atkins''' is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] actor and playwright.<ref name=standsout>[http://www.nowtoronto.com/stage/story.cfm?content=195250 "Damien Atkins stands out"]. ''[[Now (newspaper)|NOW]]'', November 14, 2013.</ref>
== Early life and education == Born in [[Australia]] and raised in [[St. Albert, Alberta]],<ref name="standsout" /> Atkins graduated from the musical theatre program at [[Grant MacEwan University|Grant MacEwan College]]<ref name="solstice">[http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=489f6c92-53cd-45e2-8ffc-9c752aa7a11e&sponsor= "Be grateful these Children's Theatre alumni will be home for solstice"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029050542/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=489f6c92-53cd-45e2-8ffc-9c752aa7a11e&sponsor= |date=2014-10-29 }}. ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'', December 20, 2007.</ref> and moved to [[Toronto]] after appearing in a [[Canadian Stage]] production of ''[[Into the Woods]]''.<ref name="standsout" /> At the age of five, he was cast in the first show presented by the St. Albert Children's Theatre: ''The Hobbit.'' He continued performing with SACT (in almost 40 shows) until he was 16. His family subsequently moved to [[Saskatoon]], [[Saskatchewan]] where he attended high school at Marion Graham Collegiate.
== Career ==
=== Playwriting === His first play, ''miss chatelaine'', was staged at [[Theatre Passe-Muraille]]<ref>[http://contests.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_01.14.99/art/chatelaine.php "One-man marathon steers clear of tired old gay routes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019014341/http://contests.eyeweekly.com/eye/issue/issue_01.14.99/art/chatelaine.php |date=2014-10-19 }}. ''[[Eye Weekly]]'', January 14, 1999.</ref> following a successful run at the Edmonton Fringe Festival <ref name="solstice" /> The following year his musical cabaret show ''Real Live Girl'' was [[workshop production|workshopped]] at [[Buddies in Bad Times]],<ref name="madly">[http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=125362 "Madly musical about the girl"]. ''[[Now (newspaper)|NOW]]'', December 7, 2000.</ref> before having its official premiere that season. In 2001, he premiered ''Good Mother'', starring [[Seana McKenna]], at the [[Stratford Festival of Canada]].<ref>[http://jam.canoe.com/Theatre/Reviews/G/Good_Mother/2001/08/24/742005.html "Another Mother"]{{dead link|date=April 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. ''[[Jam!]]'', August 24, 2001.</ref>
''Good Mother'' won the Elliott Hayes Playwright Development Award from the Stratford Festival and the Prism International Prize from the [[University of British Columbia]],<ref name="madly" /> and made Atkins the youngest playwright ever to have a new work staged at the Stratford Festival.<ref name="madly" /> ''Real Live Girl'' was later restaged by Buddies in 2003 and went on tour in 2004. He performed a one-act version of the piece for a Buddies fundraiser in 2010.<ref name="livegirl">[http://dailyxtra.com/toronto/arts-and-entertainment/damien-atkins-reprises-torch-song-tribute-buddies "Damien Atkins reprises torch song tribute for Buddies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016232226/http://dailyxtra.com/toronto/arts-and-entertainment/damien-atkins-reprises-torch-song-tribute-buddies |date=2014-10-16 }}. ''[[Xtra!]]'', February 24, 2010.</ref>
His fourth play, ''Lucy'', premiered at [[Canadian Stage]] in March 2007,<ref>[http://jam.canoe.com/Theatre/Reviews/L/Lucy/2007/03/10/3725685.html "Autistic 'Lucy' fails to reach us"]{{dead link|date=April 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. ''[[Jam!]]'', March 10, 2007.</ref> and was later staged at the [[Ensemble Studio Theatre]] in [[New York City]] in October 2007.<ref>[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/ensemble-studio-theatre-to-present-u.s.-premiere-of-atkins-lucy-144272 "Ensemble Studio Theatre to Present U.S. Premiere of Atkins' Lucy"]. ''[[Playbill (magazine)|Playbill]]'', October 4, 2007.</ref>
His fifth play, ''The Mill, Part Four: Ash,'' was the fourth part of ''The Mill'' tetralogy produced by theatrefront. The other writers involved in ''The Mill'' were [[Matthew MacFadzean]], [[Hannah Moscovitch]] and [[Tara Beagan]].
In 2013, Buddies in Bad Times staged ''The Gay Heritage Project'', a play in which Atkins and cocreators [[Andrew Kushnir]] and [[Paul Dunn (playwright)|Paul Dunn]] dramatized various scenes investigating the notion of a heritage that is particular to gay people.<ref>[http://www.nowtoronto.com/stage/story.cfm?content=195473 "The Gay Heritage Project"]. ''[[Now (newspaper)|NOW]]'', November 25, 2013.</ref>
In February 2015, Atkins premiered his newest solo show, ''We Are Not Alone,'' at the Segal Centre in Montreal, in a co-production between The Segal Centre and Toronto's Crow's Theatre.
===Acting=== In addition to some of his own plays, Atkins has appeared in many productions across Canada and the U.S. Selected credits include: Hosanna, The Heidi Chronicles, A Doll's House, ''[[I Am My Own Wife]], The Retreat From Moscow, [[Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play|Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play]], Sextet, Beatrice & Virgil, [[Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love|Unidentified Human Remains...]], Someone Else, [[Seussical]],'' ''[[Frost/Nixon (play)|Frost/Nixon]]'',<ref name=livegirl /> 7 ''Stories'',<ref name=livegirl /> ''[[The Way of the World]]'',<ref name=livegirl /> ''[[London Road (musical)|London Road]]'',<ref name=bondage>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/of-human-bondage-and-london-road-win-big-at-dora-awards/article19298773/ "Of Human Bondage and London Road win big at Dora Awards"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', June 23, 2014.</ref> ''[[Angels in America]]'',<ref name=nominations>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/dora-nominations-announced-in-toronto/article18943667/ "Dora nominations announced in Toronto"]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', June 2, 2014.</ref> ''[[Shopping and Fucking]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[Hamlet]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[The Alchemist (play)|The Alchemist]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[Macbeth]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[The Tempest]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[Titus Andronicus]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[Elizabeth Rex]]'',<ref name=madly /> ''[[Our Country's Good]]'' and ''[[The Chocolate Soldier]]''.<ref name=madly />
His roles in film and television have included ''[[Angel Square]]'', ''[[The Art of Woo]]'', ''[[Children of My Heart]]'', ''[[Take This Waltz (film)|Take This Waltz]]'', ''[[Slings and Arrows]]'' and ''[[The Matthew Shepard Story]].''
==Awards and nominations== Atkins has been nominated for ten [[Dora Mavor Moore Award]]s for acting and writing, winning four.
He won two [[Dora Mavor Moore Awards|Doras]] in 2002, in the categories of Best New Musical and Outstanding Male Performance in a Musical, for ''Real Live Girl''.<ref>"Musical captures four Dora awards". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', June 18, 2002.</ref>
He was nominated for the Dora for [[Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play|Outstanding New Play]], but did not win, in 2007 for ''Lucy''.
He was nominated for a Dora for Best Actor in a Musical in 2011 for ''Seussical.''
In 2014, he was nominated for five Doras in one evening (Best Actor in a Play for ''Angels in America: Perestroika,'' Best Actor in a Musical for ''London Road,'' Best Ensemble for ''The Gay Heritage Project,'' Best New Play (with Andrew Kushnir and Paul Dunn) for ''The Gay Heritage Project'' and Best Ensemble of a Musical for ''London Road).'' He won both Doras for ''London Road.''
That same year he won the Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Actor for ''Angels in America.''
He has also been nominated for Montreal's Masque Award (Best Actor for ''The Glass Menagerie)'' MECCA award (Best Actor for ''Geometry in Venice)'' and META awards (Best Actor and Best New Play for ''We Are Not Alone).''
In 2017, Atkins won the [[Jessie Richardson Award]] for Best Actor for ''Angels in America'' (Arts Club, Vancouver).
== Filmography ==
=== Film === {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1990 |data-sort-value="Comic Book Christmas Caper, The" | ''The Comic Book Christmas Caper'' |Lester Lister | |- |2001 |data-sort-value="Art of Woo, The" | ''[[The Art of Woo]]'' |Jonathan Peters | |- |2004 |''[[Zeyda and the Hitman]]'' |Fisk | |- |2011 |[[Take This Waltz (film)|''Take This Waltz'']] |Aquafit Instructor | |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1989 |data-sort-value="Ray Bradbury Theater, The" | ''[[The Ray Bradbury Theater]]'' |Peter Hadley |Episode: "The Veldt" |- |1996 |''[[Psi Factor]]'' |Delivery Boy |Episode: "Reptilian Revenge/Ghostly Voices" |- |2000 |''[[Children of My Heart]]'' |Niles Duffy |Television film |- |2001 |''[[I Was a Rat]]'' |Walter |3 episodes |- |2002 |data-sort-value="Matthew Shepard Story, The" | ''[[The Matthew Shepard Story]]'' |Donny |Television film |- |2002 |''[[Odyssey 5]]'' |Junior Executive |Episode: "Time Out of Mind" |- |2004 |data-sort-value="Eleventh Hour, The" | [[The Eleventh Hour (Canadian TV series)|''The Eleventh Hour'']] |Jimmy |Episode: "Bedfellas" |- |2005 |''[[Puppets Who Kill]]'' |The Assistant Director |Episode: "Buttons the Dresser" |- |2005 |[[Our Fathers (film)|''Our Fathers'']] |Young Geoghan |Television film |- |2006 |''[[Slings & Arrows|Slings and Arrows]]'' |Nigel Harrison |4 episodes |- |2008 |[[MVP (TV series)|''MVP'']] |Photographer's Assistant |Episode: "The Code" |- |2009 |data-sort-value="Listener, The" | [[The Listener (TV series)|''The Listener'']] |Gerald Cooper |Episode: "My Sister's Keeper" |- |2010 |''[[Wingin' It]]'' |Franz |Episode: "Hold the Dressing" |- |2011 |''Committed'' |Herbert | rowspan="2" |Television film |- |2011 |''[[Desperately Seeking Santa]]'' |Choreographer |- |2014 |''[[Murdoch Mysteries]]'' |Owen Hume |Episode: "The Murdoch Appreciation Society" |- |2014 |''[[Saving Hope]]'' |Teddy |Episode: "The Heartbreak Kid" |- |2026 |''[[Interview with the Vampire (TV series)|The Vampire Lestat]]'' |Magnus |TBA |}
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0040572}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Damien}} [[Category:20th-century births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian male actors]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian male actors]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Australian emigrants to Canada]] [[Category:Canadian male stage actors]] [[Category:Canadian male musical theatre actors]] [[Category:Canadian male film actors]] [[Category:Canadian male television actors]] [[Category:Canadian gay writers]] [[Category:Canadian gay actors]] [[Category:Australian gay actors]] [[Category:Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Gay dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Writers from Edmonton]] [[Category:Male actors from Edmonton]] [[Category:Writers from Toronto]] [[Category:Male actors from Toronto]] [[Category:Writers from Saskatoon]] [[Category:Male actors from Saskatoon]] [[Category:MacEwan University alumni]] [[Category:Canadian male dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Dora Mavor Moore Award winners]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian male writers]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian male writers]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]