Jess Amy Shead

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Jess immigrated to Canada from South Africa when she was 2 years old. She now lives on the unceded, traditional territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her ancestors are Scottish, Irish, English and Welsh, and she is on a path to learn more about them. She is a Performer, Creator, Producer, and Arts Administrator, with a focus on site-specific micro-performance, puppetry, Theatre for Young Audiences, physical theatre, and musical theatre. She has created her own work, most recently The Somewhere Cedar, which was co-presented at the rEvolver Festival by Upintheair Theatre and The Only Animal. She has worked as a performer at The Globe Theatre, Pacific Theatre, Chemainus Theatre, The Belfry Theatre, and Theatre SKAM, among others. She is the co-recipient of two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards for Outstanding Performance and Outstanding Production in the Theatre for Young Audiences category with The Little Onion Puppet Company for Freddie in the Neighbourhood. She is also currently developing a new table-top puppetry show, Otosan, which means “father” in Japanese with the LOPC. Jess is studying ASL, as part of her committed journey to becoming a better ally to Deaf artists.