About Jack Paterson

Jack (he, him, his) is an award-winning theatre maker whose work and practice have taken him across Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and around the world.  Projects have ranged from contemporary devising, multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and multi-lingual experiences, trans-sensory and creative access projects, new works & texts, contemporary approaches to English and world classics in theatre, and from found spaces to main stages.

Shows under his direction have garnered over thirty theatre award nominations with many wins including “Outstanding Production”. He is a recipient of “The Ray Michal Outstanding Body of Work Award”, “The Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators”, and “The John Moffat & Larry Lillo Award for Outstanding West Coast Artist”.

He trained at leading international theatrical institutions including Circle in the Square (NYC, USA), GITIS The University of Performing Arts (Moscow, RU), SENI Indonesian Institute of the Arts (Bali, INA) and received his MFA in Directing from the renown East 15 Acting School and University of Essex (London, UK).

In Vancouver, he is the founder of multi-award winning Mad Duck Theatre Collective for whom he adapted and directed Vancouver’s first female Prospero in The Tempest and the Vancouver premieres of Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus and Shakespeare’s R&J. He is currently the Co-founder and Creative Producer of BoucheWHACKED! Theatre Collective bridging local, national, and international artists and audience separated by distance, language, and culture. He is also the co-founder and creative producer with Global Hive Labs., an international network of theatre makers working together in shared creation.

Practices include:

“See, touch, feel: the global commitment breaking down barriers.” – Startupitalia.eu (Italy)

TOTAL THEATRE

Total Theatre is an ultimate collaboration, designed to create space for multiple voices in creation and reflect this diversity of perspectives in performance. All techniques, forms, disciplines, pedagogies, philosophies, and worldviews can share the stage. Democratic creative decision-making further embeds the capacity for independent and unique voices interacting with each other. Projects include Atlantide (IT), After Ibsen (CAN), and Odyssey (UK).

CROSS CULTURAL EXCHANGE & CREATION

Nowhere is it more evident that your way is only one of many than international collaboration. These projects examine what new is sparked when distinct cultural rivers come together in equal respect. Through creative exchange of knowledge, content and forms are selected by the ensembles in multi-lingual and multi-disciplinary events. Projects include Wayang 4D, Found Object Folk Tales (ID), and 再⻅ GOODBYE (UK).

ACTIVE ACCESS DESIGN & CROSS SENSORY TRANSLATION

Imagine an essential moment from any production that moved you and ask: What (if any) element of this moment is inaccessible to an artist or audience? What is essential and how can we explore the same “experience” differently? Collaborating closely with stakeholders in the community, Active Access Design & Cross Sensory Translation integrates access tools directly into the generative process. Projects include Palazzo del Mondo (IT), The Medusa Projects (UK & & USA), and The Ballad of Georges Boivin (CAN).

CREATIVE TRANSLATION

Often misunderstood, translation for theatre falls into the professional category of “Creative Translation”. Not a word for word substitution, the source is a point of reference to create an equally compelling work in the target language. The result may often not seem like the original but will generate an equivalent impact. For this to succeed, a unique cross cultural creative partnership between playwright and translator is crucial.

• 2025 South Korea & Canada Collaboration
  Hanyang University (Korea), Capilano University, First Nations’ University & University of Saskatchewan (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)

Playwright Rhiannon Collett, translator River Coello, director Denise Yvette Serna & performer Daniel Suarez (Boca a Boca, Teatro Vista USA)

• 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.