Amanda Samuelson

Amanda Samuelson is an accomplished and award-winning writer, producer, dramaturg, teacher, and actor currently based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 Territory. She was born and raised in Grande Prairie, Alberta, where her passion for theatre began. She is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts BFA program, with a major in Theatre and a minor in Creative Writing. During her time at NYU, she spent the majority of her studies at the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, the only studio at NYU that trains in acting, directing, design, playwriting, and devising in a single setting. It was here that she discovered her love of playwriting. Following her primary training at PHTS, Amanda studied playwriting in London, UK for a semester under the instruction of Clare Bayley, and spent a summer in Florence, Italy participating in fiction writing courses led by Alexander Chee and Maaza Mengiste. Since moving to Edmonton at the end of 2018, Amanda has found a great deal of success not only as a writer, but as a producer, dramaturg, and teacher. Her ten-minute and one-act plays have been read and staged at festivals and competitions in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Her full- length play, "Pressure," premiered at the 2022 Edmonton Fringe Festival, presented by Nextfest and self- produced. Her new full-length play, "A Visit", is currently in development and has received funding support from Edmonton Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. Amanda is the 2023 recipient of Fringe Theatre's Nordic & Cloutier Family Innovation Award. Amanda worked as Associate Producer with Theatre Prospero and held various roles with Thousand Faces Festival for three years. She created the Thousand Faces Festival's New Mythic Works Series, supporting new work by Edmonton playwrights in 2022 and 2024. Currently, she works as the Assistant Managing Director for SkirtsAfire, a theatre and multidisciplinary arts festival that programs the work of women and non-binary artists. She also teaches playwriting to teens at the Citadel's Foote Theatre School and Free Arts Society, taking great pride in inspiring the next generation of writers.