About

I am a theatre artist. Born in Terrace, British Columbia, on unceded Tshimshian Territory, and raised in Alberta, I have lived and worked in Montreal, Toronto, New York City, and Buffalo, and currently reside on Treaty 4 Territory as Assistant Professor of Theatre at University of Regina. I hold an MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University, and was awarded the 2020 John Hirsch Prize for Directing from the Canada Council for the Arts.

I have worked across Canada as a theatre director, actor, devised theatre creator, producer, playwright, and educator since graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada’s Acting program.

I am Artistic Producer of Architect Theatre (currently on hiatus), a Founding Member of both Saga Collectif and Boys in Chairs Collective, and was Artistic Associate with lemonTree creations (2008-2017).

Directing credits include: Access Me (Boys In Chairs Collective), Sycophant (National Theatre School of Canada), Orlando (University of Regina), The Tragedy of Macbeth (SUNY Buffalo State College), Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) (Theatre Passe Muraille/Saga Collectif/Architect Theatre/Dora Award Nomination for Directing), Cabaret (Columbia University), and Black Boys (Buddies In Bad Times/Saga Collectif/Tour).

Acting credits include: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Ekstatika Stage & Screen), Body Politic (lemonTree/Buddies/Dora Award for Outstanding New Play), Liberation Days (Theatre Calgary/Western Canadian Theatre), A God In Need of Help (Tarragon Theatre), The Normal Heart (Studio 180/Buddies In Bad Times Theatre), and As You Like It (Citadel Theatre).

My devised collaborative theatre works have an emphasis on environmental and identity topics and are based on field research, autobiography, and the body. With Architect Theatre, I co-created and performed in two research-based works about resource extraction: Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show (Theatre Passe Muraille/Tour) and Like There’s No Tomorrow (SummerWorks), and directed This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show for Theatre Passe Muraille. I also co-created Charisma Furs with Mx. Katie Sly, which was published in Q2Q: Queer Canadian Performance Texts (Playwrights Canada Press), nominated for a LAMDBA Literary Award.

I wrote the Forward for Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)’s Governor General’s Award nominated and LAMDBA Literary Award winner Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land), and Boys In Chair’s Collective’s Access Me was included in the anthology, Interdependent Magic: Disability Performance in Canada, both published by Playwrights Canada Press. My writing has also appeared in the Summer 2021 edition of the Canadian Theatre Review (“Room for failure was abundant”: A Personal Account of SummerWorks, 2006-2017) and in Theatre Passe Muraille: A Collective History (Playwrights Canada Press).

Thanks for your interest in my work.

Jonathan [at] jonathanseinen [dot] com