meet the team
Debbie Patterson
Founder / Artistic Director, Sick + Twisted Theatre
Debbie Patterson is a Winnipeg playwright, director and actor. Trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, she is a founding member of Shakespeare in the Ruins, served as Artistic Associate at Prairie Theatre Exchange from 2012 to 2018 and was a member of the PTE Playwrights Unit. She is in demand across the country as a consultant on crip aesthetics/accessibility and as a theatremaker working in disability aesthetics. She was honoured with the United Nations Platform for Action Committee’s 2014 Activist Award and the City of Winnipeg’s Winnipeg Making a Mark Award in 2017. She was twice shortlisted for the Gina Wilkinson Prize. She is the matriarch of a family of artists. She is a proud advocate for disability justice through her work as founding and current Artistic Director of Sick + Twisted Theatre.
She lives a wheelchair-enabled life in Winnipeg (Treaty 1) and in a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg (Treaty 2) with her partner and collaborator, Arne MacPherson.
Theresa Thomson
Artistic Producer, Sick + Twisted Theatre
Theresa Thomson (she /her) is a queer theatre artist who has physical, mental and emotional disabilities, all of which are invisible. She works as an actor, director, producer, writer, creator, instructor, choreographer, administrator and makeup artist and plays Dame Champers in the Sick+Twisted Holiday Pantos!
She is community-minded, and she strives to provide opportunities and accessible and safe spaces for others to find success as artists.
She is trauma informed and certified in mental health first aid, (from CMHA) Applied Suicide Skills Training (ASSIT), and has her certificate in childhood anxiety from the Childhood anxiety Institute as well as Therapeutic Chi Sao (TCS) for at risk youth from Therapeutic Crisis Solutions, which covers hands on skills, psychotherapeutic concepts, indigenous philosophical foundations, therapeutic presences and an intentional care approach.
Sierra Noble
Development, Outreach + Communications Coordinator
Sierra Noble (they/she) is a queer, dynamically disabled, neurodivergent musician, songwriter, producer, and student.
They are passionate about the arts and contributing toward making artistic industries more accessible and supportive for disabled artists and art lovers.
Sierra joined the Sick+Twisted team in October, 2025. While new to the theatre world, they are excited to use their 20+ years of experience in music to uplift the company and its community.
Tyler Sneesby
Services Coordinator - VIEW
Tyler Sneesby (he/him), a.k.a. DJ Hunnicutt, has been performing on stages in Winnipeg and around the world for over thirty years. As musician for the improv duo Crumbs, Tyler has appeared in theatre festivals in Berlin, Oslo, Zurich, across Canada, and multiple sold-out runs at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival.
He made his stage acting debut last winter in Sick + Twisted’s 2024 holiday Panto, Hansel & Gretel in Portage Place Mall, and appeared again in S+T’s 2025 original production, Neither Her nor There.
Since his vision loss in 2019, Tyler had been actively advocating for more accessible opportunities for the blind a low-vision community, particularly in live music/theatre venues.
board of directors
Mary Black - Board Chair
Melissa Graham - Vice Chair
Susan Lamberd - Secretary
Yvonne Peters
Megan Krohn
Eva Maia Miranda
Debra Radi
Frances Ravinsky