Jack Paterson Theatre

“This is the magic of theatre” – Jerry Wasserman, The Province

International Collaboration

“…smashing nationality and accesibility borders in a Total theatre…”
IMA Magazine

Creative Access

“Access as a springboard towards new forms of communication…
as a creative challenge and experimentation with new languages.”
 www.redattoresociale.it

Creative Translation

“I feel my eyes have been opened to further theatrical possibilities…”
– Lauretta Barrow, Theatre503 Lit. Department (London, UK)

Contemporary Theatre

“…the power of words and an actor to conjure a complex, emotional world
…elegant, essential and poetic…”

The Vancouver Sun

Devised Creation

“…a fusion of epic and contemporary, myth and poetry
in a fascinating total and inclusive theatre…”

La Liberta

New Plays

“… stunning, sexy, heartbreaking…
beautifully written, beautifully acted, and beautifully lit…just see it.”

Mooney on Theatre

Classics for the Modern Stage

“…innovative…challenging…daring…
come along with the fantastic company and try something new.”

MyTheatreMates.com

Theatre for Young People

“Highest praise: my eight-year-old companion talked about this show
all night and well into the next day.”

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

DEVISOR. DIRECTOR. DRAMATURGE. TRANSLATOR. ACTOR. CREATIVE PRODUCER.

Jack Paterson Theatre

“…you’ve never imagined it like this before…this is the magic of theatre.”
Jerry Wasserman, The Province

News & Projects

Celebrating the 2024-2025 Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges

Celebrating the 2024-2025 Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges

“…an unforgettable performance! Blending powerful storytelling with youthful energy and cross-cultural collaboration…”
– Embassy of Canada (Korea)

R;LINK THE MUSICAL
Written & Directed by Kim Ga-Ram
Co-written with Tyrone Perreault
Composed by Kim Jun-Ho

Seoul, Korea: July 26 & 27, 2025
Vancouver, Canada: Aug. 15 & 16, 2025

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Bali Canada Cross Cultural Exchange 2025

Bali Canada Cross Cultural Exchange 2025

Conceived by Jack Paterson, I Nyoman Sedana, & I Made Sidia

Considered one of the longest uninterrupted performance traditions in the world, the Balinese traditional performing arts are unique, rich, and complex.

April 2025

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Sumerland’s Ryga Arts Festival – Rural Arts

Located in rural Summerland in Interior BC, Summerland’s Ryga Arts Festival reimagines the small town to be a vibrant meeting place of the arts and community. For a full week, presentations, performances, concerts, readings & symposiums take place across our downtown core.

We aim to empower people’s own voices, to express their own stories, thoughts and creativity through their own art.  We will find a role for you!

As the Creative Producer – Theatre & New Works Development, here are some of the projects facilitated by Jack Paterson September 2025.

Theatre Curation – Rural Arts

Theatre Curation – Rural Arts

DEAFY
Created & Performed by Chris Dodd

Summerland’s Ryga Arts Festival
Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 7 PM
Centre Stage
(9518 Main Street, Summerland B.C.)

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New Play Commission – Rural Arts

New Play Commission – Rural Arts

WINGS (WORKING TITLE)
By Isobel Rondeau

“..a play that centers on forgiveness, within yourself and with others. Armed with this base knowledge, you can continue learning the Seven Grandfathers’ Teachings.” – Isobel Rondeau

Summerland’s Ryga Arts Festival

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About

Jack Paterson (he/him) is an internationally recognized and multi-award-winning theatre maker and creative producer with over two decades of experience with a profound commitment to inclusive, innovative, and globally conscious theatre making. With projects spanning Canada, Asia, Europe, South America, the USA, and the UK, his expertise lies in creating dynamic and distinctive theatre, including transcultural and multi-disciplinary devised works, fostering creative access, developing new works, and presenting contemporary interpretations of classics.

His productions have garnered over 30 professional theatre award nominations, with numerous wins for “Outstanding Direction” and “Outstanding Production,” and 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 notable institutions such 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 East15 Acting School & University of Essex (UK).

Portfolio

Jack’s projects have ranged from devised, cross-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-disciplinary events and installations to contemporary new work & translations, and classical theatre in contemporary form.

International Creation

ATLANTIDE

(Teatro Trieste 34, Italy)

“…smashing nationality and access borders in a Total theatre.”

IMA Magazine

NEW WRITING

Walt Whitman’s Secret

(a frank theatre, Canada)

“…beautifully produced and performed…gorgeous…”

Colinthomas.ca

Translations

The List

(Ruby Slippers Theatre, Canada)

“…elegant, essential
and poetic…”

The Vancouver Sun

Classics in contemporary form

Romeo & Juliet

(Cardiff Open Air, Wales)

“…innovative…daring…taking the leap into the unknown…”

MyTheatreMates.com

Articles

Jack’s writing on theatre and reviews have been published on such performing arts websites and commons as Howl Round, Theatreartlife, Biz Books, Plank Magazine and Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Association Blog.

Oberammergau Passionsspiele: Exploring a Sacred Theatre (Part 9)

Oberammergau Passionsspiele: Exploring a Sacred Theatre (Part 9)

LESSONS & REFLECTIONS
Several hundred years ago, the Passionsspiele was performed by Catholic farmers isolated in the mountainside. Passion plays were the few opportunities for local people to engage with their spiritual and religious stories in their own voices, their own their own languages, and their own words, rather than the Latin of the pulpit. For those of the Christian faiths, this interaction remains true today.

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Translations

Francophone Canadian new writing is on the for front of international practice. Born of unique circumstances, the unique “Langue D’Auteur” has nothing quite like it in Western English Language theatre. The poetic, abstract or expressionistic are side by side with gritty realism and the mundane often becomes the fantastical.

Western Gold: The Ballad of Georges Boivin

By Martin Bellemare
(Quebec, Canada)

“…a theatrical road-movie brimming with vulnerability…”
Alix Forgeot, L-Express.ca

Master Karim The Partridge

By Martin Bellemare
(Quebec, Canada)

“…a singular text…a fierce work on a topical subject, exile.”
SADC Award Jury

Asteroid B612

By Eric Noel
(Quebec, Canada)

“…a true pleasure for the eyes and the heart.”
Alexandre Cadieux, JEU: Revue de Theatre

The Naughty Children's Bedtime Stories

By Étienne Lepage
(Quebec, Canada)

“…what a clever, funny, edgy piece!”
Tessa Mendel, Halifax Theatre for Young People

KIWI

By Daniel Danis
(Quebec, Canada)

Recipient of The Cole Foundation Award for Emerging Translators
(Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal)

Press

“…Jack Paterson’s crisp, imaginative direction…makes the point with wonderful theatricality.”

The Province – Banana Boys, Firehall Arts Centre

“…one of the most consistently pleasing shows in recent memory.”

The Province – The Pitmen Painters, United Players

“…a deeply satisfying work…one of the best shows in a strong season.”

The Georgia Straight – Titus Andronicus, Jericho Arts Centre

Land Acknowledgement

Jack’s activities take place on or are launched from the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish People: the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We recognize and honour the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation commission and acknowledge the importance of Indigenous sovereignty on this unceded territory.

*A territorial or land acknowledgement is an act of reconciliation that involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of the Indigenous people who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases still do call it home.

For more information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada click here.