UBC Theatre & Film is pleased to introduce our newest faculty member, Jonathan Seinen, Assistant Professor, Performance Practice (Acting and Directing), after a detailed and far-reaching hiring process. An award-winning director, actor, and creator, Jonathan’s work spans devised theatre, adaptations of classical texts, and new play development. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta (BA Honours Drama), the highly selective National Theatre School of Canada (three-year Acting Program), and Columbia University in the City of New York (MFA in Theatre Directing), where he trained under Anne Bogart.
His professional theatre practice includes extensive work as a director, actor, creator, and Artistic Producer of Architect Theatre. His directing credits include: Boys In Chairs Collective’s Access Me, for which he won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction; Jeff Ho/Ho Ka Kei’s LAMBDA Literary Award-winning and Governor General’s Award-nominated play Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land); and Black Boys by Saga Collectif, which premiered at Toronto’s Buddies In Bad Times Theatre and toured Canada. In 2016, he was Artist-in-Residence with Vancouver’s the Frank Theatre Company, and in 2020, Jonathan was awarded the prestigious John Hirsch Prize for Directing from the Canada Council for the Arts. He is slated to direct The Romeo Initiative by Trina Davies at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon in the 2025-2026 season.
Through Architect Theatre, which he co-founded with Georgia Beaty, Jonathan has collaboratively created a number of plays confronting environmental, social, and political topics. As an actor, Jonathan has appeared on stages across Canada, including Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops, Theatre Calgary, the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, and Toronto’s storied Tarragon Theatre.
As an educator, Jonathan has previously held Assistant Professor positions in the theatre departments of The University of Regina (where he taught in the BFA Devised Performance and Theatre Creation program) as well as SUNY Buffalo State University. He has also directed productions at the National Theatre School and Studio 58 at Langara College.
We recently had the chance to ask Jonathan a few questions about his move to UBC and his passion for theatre.
What are you looking forward to about joining UBC Theatre and Film?
I’m looking forward to joining the Department’s inspiring mix of artists and scholars to train the next generation of theatre makers; we live in challenging times, and I’m humbled by this opportunity to ask the big questions of how we as theatre practitioners can meet this moment. I’m excited to reconnect with friends in Vancouver and launch new collaborations with colleagues in the local performing arts community. And I’m looking forward to returning to the landscape of the Pacific Northwest after moving away from B.C. as a child, learning to live and work in a good way on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
What do you love about theatre?
Where do I start?! Its space for my curiosity, its demand for our rigour, its need for us to play! The fine details attended to in rehearsal allowing for the unexpected in performance. The liveness and immediacy. The metaphoric possibilities. The collaborations across all art forms. Being a part of a storytelling tradition that stretches back to the very origins of human culture. Exploring the quotidian and the existential, often in the same moment. What’s not to love?
Rooted in his national and international training and extensive experience as a theatre artist, Jonathan looks forward to exploring the craft of acting and the art of directing with students in studio, in seminar, and in production. His distinctive experience in devised performance creation and new play development brings valuable skills to the department. He aims to offer courses that link preparation to performance and bridge creation with critical inquiry, encouraging students to explore theatre as a means of engaging with contemporary life and political issues, further enriching the department’s already strong offerings. His practical insights, combined with theoretical frameworks, will enhance student learning.
Join us in welcoming Jonathan!
