Lee Lewis

Lee Lewis OAM
Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company
In office January 2020 – March 2024
Preceded by	Sam Strong
Artistic Director of Griffin Theatre Company
In office 2012 – January 2020
Personal details
Born	1970 (age 54–55) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Education	Columbia University, National Institute of Dramatic Art
Awards	Helpmann Award

Lee Lewis OAM (born 1970) is an Australian theatre director.

Early life and education

Lewis was born in 1970 in Chicago, Illinois, to an English father and Anglo-Zimbabwean mother. Her family lived in Zimbabwe for six years before emigrating to Australia in 1977.[1]

Lewis trained as an actor at Columbia University in New York.[2] Returning to Australia, she completed a Masters of Directing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 2005.[3][4]

Career

In 2006 she directed a play by New Zealand writer Matthew J. Saville about the Boer War entitled Kikia te Poa, which was performed at the Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney.[5][6]

She was appointed artistic director of Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company in 2012.[7]

Lewis was appointed artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company in 2019, succeeding Sam Strong who was her predecessor at Griffin as well.[8] She resigned from Queensland Theatre in March 2024.[9]

Awards

• 2016: Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play for Griffin's production of The Bleeding Tree[10]
• 2024: Honorary Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, for service to the performing arts as a theatre director.[11]

References

1. Dow, Steve (19 October 2012). "Fire in the belly". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
2. "Theatre director Lee Lewis uses Top 100 influential women title to tackle domestic violence on stage". ABC News. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
3. "Sunday Brunch with Lee Lewis". ABC Sydney. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
4. All alumni – 2005, National Institute of Dramatic Art
5. Dodds, Troy (7 January 2010). "Belvoir kicks off 2010 season - News". AussieTheatre.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
6. Dunne, Stephen (18 September 2006). "Kikia Te Poa". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
7. Fulton, Adam. "Diversity a key issue for Griffin's new artistic director". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
8. "Lee Lewis is Queensland Theatre’s new artistic director" by Phil Brown, The Courier-Mail, 20 September 2019 (subscription required)
9. Brown, Phil (18 March 2024). "Shock resignation: Lee Lewis quits as artistic director of Queensland Theatre". InReview. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
10. Rugendyke, Louise (25 July 2016). "Helpmann Awards 2016: Matilda the Musical sweeps the board with 13 wins". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
11. "Ms Lee Lewis [H]". Australian Honours Search Facility. Australian Government. Retrieved 9 June 2024.

External links

• Lee Lewis at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Lee Lewis at Playbill Vault