Theatre Biography

AMANDA WEST LEWIS is an author, theatre creator, calligrapher and teaching artist.

Amanda holds a BFA in Theatre (Performance) from York University. She received a certificate in Theatre for Young Audiences with Complex Difficulties from Rose Bruford College, UK. She has a specialized background in movement, voice and language arts, and a particular interest in developing work that is by, for and about youth.

In her early theatre career, Amanda worked as an actor and director with a number of companies including Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre Lab, Buddies in Bad Times, and was a founding member of the Rhubarb Festival. She has worked with the NAC, the Blyth Festival, and on moving to the Perth area, became a founding member of the Perth Theatre Festival.

Amanda West Lewis

In her theatre career, Amanda has focused on work with young people, directing and teaching extensively. She was the founder of the Perth Youth Arts Workshop, and served as the Artistic Director and later Executive Director of the Ottawa School of Speech & Drama (OSSD), where she was responsible for developing and overseeing an extensive drama curriculum for children and adults. While at OSSD, she adapted works by Alan Cumyn and Tim Wynne-Jones for the stage, and directed many student productions. She created such projects as the “Our Stories Project” (acting for youth at risk); “The Red Kite Project” (performances for children on the autism spectrum); and spearheaded the creation of “The Children’s Republic,” a play by Hannah Moscovitch, a co-production between OSSD & GCTC.

In 2015, Amanda opened the Ottawa Children's Theatre (OCT), where she offered a range of drama education programs for children aged 3 - 18. In 2015, she collaborated with Easy Avenue Productions to co-produce the hit play "Up to Low" at Arts Court Theatre and the National Arts Centre.

In 2025, she adapted her book A Planet is a Poem for young performers at OCT. She is the lead coach for the Trinity College, London Drama Program (UK) with OCT, and continues to coach students through their exam curriculum.

She co-authored, with Tim Wynne-Jones, Rosie Backstage (Kids Can Press, 1994, illustrated by Bill Slavin), a middle grade illustrated novel about Shakespeare and life backstage at a theatre like Stratford Ontario.