JD Derbyshire

Last updated
JD Derbyshire
Born
Jan Derbyshire

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Died(2025-09-26)September 26, 2025
Spouse Michael Rohl (div.)
Children Kacey Rohl

Jan "JD" Derbyshire (d. 2025) [1] was a Canadian theatre artist, comedian, and writer. They performed their one-person show, Certified, across Canada, including in Vancouver where it won two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards.

Contents

Early life and education

Derbyshire was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. They completed a master's degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design in Inclusive Design in 2014. [2] [3]

Career

Derbyshire's play, Funny in the Head, about their experiences with bipolar disorder, was commissioned by Stage Left Productions, and it premiered at the Balancing Acts Disability Arts Festival in Alberta, Canada in 2008. [4] In 2010, alongside the Paralympic Games, Derbyshire performed their one-person show Funny in the Head at the Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture Festival, and it was the only show performed at Kickstart. [5]

Derbyshire developed another one-person show, Certified, which premiered at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 2016. [6] They have performed Certified for Handsome Alice Theatre (Calgary) in 2018, [7] Touchstone Theatre (Vancouver) in 2019, [8] at One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo (Calgary) in 2020, [9] and at the Progress Festival (Toronto) in 2020. [10] Derbyshire was set to perform Certified as part of Gateway’s 2020-2021 season but the show was cancelled due to COVID-19. [6]

In 2020, Derbyshire was writer-in-residence at Mount Royal University. [9] They were a recipient of a Fleck Fellowship at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2021. [6] In 2023, their first novel, Mercy Gene: The Man-made Making of a Mad Woman, a work of auto-fiction, was published by Goose Lane Editions. [11]

Personal life

Derbyshire and their ex-husband, TV director Michael Rohl, had a daughter, actress Kacey Rohl. [12] [2] They were non-binary and used they/them pronouns. [6] They died on September 26, 2025. [1]

Works

Plays

Novels

Awards

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultNotesRef.
2020 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Outstanding Original ScriptCertifiedWon [15]
Critics’ Choice Innovation AwardWonfor Touchstone Theatre

References

  1. 1 2 "JD (Jan) Derbyshire". KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Leiren-Young, Mark (2012-07-31). "Talking Turkey About Queer Arts". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2020-11-07– via PressReader.
  3. ↑ "About". Jan(JD)Derbyshire. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  4. ↑ "Balancing Acts: Calgary's 8th Annual Disability Arts Festival". Balancing Acts. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  5. ↑ Johnston, Kristy (2012). Stage Turns : Canadian Disability Theatre. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 165. ISBN   9780773539945.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Johnson, Gail (2022-03-08). "JD Derbyshire turns their real-life experiences with the mental-health system into an interactive theatre piece". Stir. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  7. ↑ Watson, Kari (2018-03-13). "Jan Derbyshire invites you to determine her mental state in solo production Certified – TheYYSCENE". The YYScene. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  8. 1 2 Kai Mak, Danny (2019-11-04). "In Certified, Jan Derbyshire adroitly untangles her experiences in the mental-health system". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  9. 1 2 Hobson, Louis B. (2020-01-21). "High Performance Rodeo selling out fast in last week". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  10. ↑ "In Certified, comedian Jan Derbyshire asks the audience to assess her mental health". CBC. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  11. ↑ Qurashi, Avery (2024-08-13). "Review of Mercy Gene: The Man-Made Making of a Mad Woman by JD Derbyshire". ROOM Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  12. ↑ Derdeyn, Stuart (2015-04-15). "Kacey Rohl likes Working the Engels". The Province. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  13. ↑ Johnston, Kirsty (2012). Stage Turns : Canadian Disability Theatre. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 42. ISBN   9780773539945.
  14. ↑ "Mercy Gene by JD Derbyshire". CBC Books. 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  15. ↑ Smith, Janet (2020-06-29). "Noises Off, The Father, and more win big as 2019-20 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards go virtual". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
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