amanda mcraven
director
Amanda McRaven (Fulbright ‘08, MFA Directing, University of California, Irvine, MA Community-based Theatre, Massey University, New Zealand, BA English and Drama, University of Virginia) Amanda has just returned from two years in New Zealand, where she went on a Fulbright grant to develop community-based, multicultural, ensemble theater. There she also taught at Massey University and directed for Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand.
She is the former Director of Education for the American Shakespeare Center, where she spent three years developing the company’s youth programs. Her productions have received critical acclaim for energetic, passionate performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Virginia, and New Zealand. Directing credits include Macbeth, Orpheus Descending, As You Like It, Playhouse Creatures, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Antony and Cleopatra, Boston Marriage, Romeo and Juliet, Waiting For Godot, The Seagull, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. She has assistant directed with Tony award winner Daniel Sullivan at South Coast Repertory Theatre in California and with Bill Rauch at Lincoln Center in New York.
She is the founder and artistic director of Fugitive, a theatre ensemble focused on physical performance, on re-igniting theatre audiences, and in creating theatre with at-risk communities. In addition to directing, Amanda’s interest in social arts programs led her to The Voice Project, a writing and performance ensemble for female inmates. She is most interested in creating collaborative, interactive performance with no fourth walls. Her artistic influences are Anne Bogart, Ariane Mnouchkine, Jerzy Grotowski, Robert Wilson, and Derevo. She is currently expanding FUGITIVE and The Voice Project into an international performance ensemble encouraging people to make theatre with their own voices.
