ABOUT
Jack Paterson (he/ him) is an internationally recognized and multi-award-winning theatre maker and creative producer with over two decades of experience. His extensive career spans projects across Canada, Asia, Europe, South America, the USA, and the UK, demonstrating a versatile and global perspective in his work.
Jack’s expertise lies in creating dynamic and distinctive theatre, encompassing transcultural and multi-disciplinary devised works, fostering creative access, developing new works, plays and translations, and presenting contemporary interpretations of English Language and World classics. His productions have earned over 30 professional theatre award nominations with numerous wins, including “Outstanding Direction” and “Outstanding Production.” He is a distinguished recipient of the “Ray Michal Outstanding Body of Work Award” and the “John Moffat & Larry Lillo Outstanding Body of Work Award”.
His comprehensive international training includes such notable institutions as Circle in the Square (USA), Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (Moscow, RU), Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ID), and an MFA in Direction from the East15 Acting School & University of Essex (UK).
As a creative producer, Paterson has founded and led several impactful organizations, including The Creatus Project (advocating for older adults in the arts), New Translation Canada (bridging playwrights across Canada’s linguistic divides), and Bouche Theatre Collective (breaking down barriers of distance and culture). His producing roles involve comprehensive operations management, programming, hiring, budgeting, and fundraising.
Key recent highlights include significant international collaborations, <R;Link> The Musical (Seoul, KR & Vancouver, CA), Variations in Light: Inspired by the Ramayana (Sanggar Paripurna, ID), and Palazzo del Mondo with SignDance Collective International (Farnese Palace, IT), which explores new forms of accessible theatre. His directing portfolio showcases a wide range, from new works and contemporary theatre to World classics.
Paterson is also a prolific speaker, workshop leader, sharing insights on topics such as international collaboration, aging in the arts, creative translation, and contemporary creation practices. He has contributed articles to leading theatre industry platforms, exploring diverse themes from traditional performing arts to innovation and industry insights.
His extensive networking efforts have directly facilitated significant global and national impact, promoted Canadian theatre makers and fostered international collaborations. This portfolio demonstrates Jack Paterson’s profound commitment to inclusive, innovative, and globally conscious theatre making.
NETWORKING & OUTREACH:
CULTIVATING GLOBAL & NATIONAL THEATRE CONNECTING
“Our production would not have been possible without the passion and dedication of the New Translation Canada team in partnering playwrights and translators, commissioning the new translations, and developing the texts to make to them rehearsal ready.”
– Karine Ricard, Artistic Director (Théâtre français de Toronto, CAN)
Jack Paterson drives significant global and national impact through proactive outreach and strategic networking. Since 2020, his initiatives have directly facilitated over 20 events, showcasing Canadian artists and their work across seven Canadian cities, seven countries abroad, and in eight new languages.
His leadership in the development, networking, and promotion of Canadian theatre makers has directly resulted in:
- 2025 Glassco Translation Residence for Marie-Claude Verdier’s Seeker, translated by Alexis Diamond (Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal CAN)
- 2025 R:Link – A Korea & Canada Young Artist Collaboration
Hanyang University (Korea), Capilano University,& First Nations’ University of Canada (Canada)
- 2025 National Tour french language tour of Karen Hines’ Crawlspace (theatre francais de Toronto CAN)
- 2025 English Language surtitles of Catherine Léger’s J’ai perdu mon mari (UniThéâtre, Edmonton CAN)
- 2024 English Language Premiere of Marie-Ève Milot and/et Marie-Claude St-Laurent’s Still Life (Talisman Theatre, Montreal CAN)
- 2024 Gaelic translation of Martin Bellemare’s The Ballad of Georges Boivin (IE)
- 2024 Italian presentation of Nathalie Boisvert’s Facelift (Teatro Trieste 34, Piacenza Kultur Dom IT)
- 2024 English Language workshop presentation of Marie-Ève Milot and/et Marie-Claude St-Laurent’s Still Life (Talisman Theatre & The Centaur Theatre WildSide Festival, Montreal CAN)
- 2024 English language publication of Nathalie Boisvert’s Antigone in Spring (TalonBooks CAN)
- 2023 Annick Levebre as featured artist DramaFest (Mexico, MX)
French Language Premiere of Karen Hines’ Crawlspace (Théâtre Français de Toronto , 2023)
Playwright Rhiannon Collett, translator River Coello, director Denise Yvette Serna & performer Daniel Suarez (Boca a Boca, Teatro Vista USA)
- 2023 French language workshop of Joseph Shragge’s Ricki (Scapegoat Carnivale, Montreal CAN)
- 2023 Spanish language translation & staged reading of Rhiannon Collett’s The Kissing Game (Steppenwolf Theatre & Teatro Vista, Chicago USA)
- 2023 Italian Language presentation & podcast of Nathalie Boisvert’s Facelift (Teatro Trieste 34, IT)
- 2023 French Language presentation of Karen Hine’s Crawlspace (Zones Théâtrales – National Arts Centre, Ottawa CAN)
- 2023 Italian Language translation & presentation of Nathalie Boisvert’s Facelift (Satiri Di Storie Festival, IT)
- 2023 French Language Premiere of Karen Hines’ Crawlspace (Theatre Francais de Toronto, Toronto CAN)
- 2023 Italian Language Podcast broadcast of Marie-Claude Garneau, Marie-Ève Milot & Marie-Claude St-Laurent’s La Coalition de la robe (PKD, IT)
- 2022 & 2023 Italian language presentations of Trina Davies’ Silence (ChezActors, IT)
- 2022 publication of Italian excepts from Trina Davies’ Silence in SuperAbile digital and print magazine (EU)
- 2022 English language workshop of Eric Noel’s Ces regards amoureux de garçons altérés (PWM, Montreal)
- 2021 Presentation by playwright Denneh’Cho Thompson at flausen+ Kongress (Cologne, Germany)
- 2021 South African English Language Premiere of Marie-Claude Verdier’s I’m Not Here (Free State University)
- 2021 English language presentation of Marie-Ève Milot & Marie-Claude St-Laurent’s Chienne(s) (Artists in Conversation – Studio Theatre, Washington, USA)
- 2021 Publication of English language translations of Maris-Claude Verdier’s Andy’s Gone
- 2021 English publication of Sébastien Harrisson’s From Alaska
- 2018 English Language Premiere of Catherine Léger’s I Lost My
Husband (Ruby Slippers Theatre & Richmond Gateway Theatre, Richmond)
- 2016 London UK premiere of Marie-Claude Verdier’s I’m Not Here (Voila Festival)
- 2015 inclusion of Canadian playwrights in Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway’s Audition Speeches for BAME (bipoc) Actors (Bloomsbury Methuen), sold at leading UK & International theatre bookshops. Playwrights include Camyar Chai, Anosh Irani, Ravi & Asha Jain, Sheila James, Sunil Kuruvilla, Anita Majumdar, Wajdi Mouawad, Mala Sinha, Djanet Spears, Jordan Tannahill, Guillermo Verdecchia, and Marcus Youssef.
English Language Premiere of Still Life (Talisman Theatre Montreal, 2022)