With a string of firsts in Asian Canadian theatre, Nina Lee Aquino was the Founding Artistic Director of fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company, organized the first Asian Canadian theatre conference, edited the first (2-volume) Asian Canadian play anthology, and co-edited the first (award-winning) book on Asian Canadian theatre.

Previously the Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre, Nina is the current Artistic Director of Factory Theatre, and is the incoming Artistic Director of the National Arts Centre English Theatre. She also serves as the President of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.

Nina has directed at theatres across the country and has won the Ken McDougall Award, the John Hirsch Prize, the 2018-19 Toronto Theatre Critics Awards for Best Director, and three Dora Awards for Outstanding Direction. Nina co-wrote Miss Orient(ed) and her monologues have been published in Beyond the Pale (edited by Yvette Nolan) and She Speaks (edited by Judith Thompson).

Nina has taught and directed at educational institutions in Toronto and was recently appointed Adjunct Professor at York University’s Department of Theatre. She is the 2019 recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Margo Bindhart and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award.