Debbie Patterson

Debbie Patterson is a playwright, director and actor. Trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, she is a founder of Shakespeare in the Ruins (SIR), served as Artistic Director for Popular Theatre Alliance of MB, Theatre Ambassador for Winnipeg’s Cultural Capital year and as Artistic Associate at Prairie Theatre Exchange 2012 to 2018. In 2016, Debbie became the first physically disabled actor to play Richard III in a professional Canadian production with SIR. In 2014 she was selected for the United Nations Platform for Action Committee’s Activist Award and was honoured with the Mayor’s Making a Mark Award in 2017. She is a proud advocate for disability arts through her work as the Artistic Director of Sick + Twisted Theatre and as a disability consultant/dramaturge on numerous projects across Canada. She lives a wheelchair-enabled life in Winnipeg and in a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg with her partner and collaborator, Arne MacPherson.