Jackie Maxwell

During her tenure at the Shaw Festival, Maxwell has included pieces by women writers from Shaw’s period, commissioned new translations by some of Canada’s most respected playwrights, presented Canadian classics on the playbill and initiated enormous growth in the area of new play development.

In 2016, she was made a member of the Order of Ontario.

Maxwell's extensive list of directed productions including of William Inge's Picnic (2001); Saint Joan (2007), Chekhov's Three Sisters (2003), Marc Michel Bouchard's The Coronation Voyage (2003) and Githa Sowerby's Rutherford and Son (2004), Brief Encounters (2009), Jay Turvey/Paul Sportelli musical Maria Severa (2011).

Maxwell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After earning an Honours degree in Drama at the University of Manchester, England, Maxwell accompanied her husband, Benedict Campbell, back to his native Canada, where she began to work as a director at the National Arts Centre. She subsequently became Artistic Director of Factory Theatre in Toronto (1987–95) and Director of New Play Development at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island. In 2002, she became Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival. She has two daughters, Deragh and Lucy.

Jackie Maxwell (born 1956), is a theatre director and dramaturge.