Victoria Ann Lewis | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Known for | Disability theatre |
Notable work | Knots Landing |
Victoria Ann Lewis is an American theatre artist, actress, and scholar. Ann Lewis played Peggy on Knots Landing. She is the editor of Beyond Victims and Villains: Contemporary Plays by Disabled Playwrights.
Ann Lewis had polio as a child, leaving her right leg weaker. As a result, she walks with a limp and uses a leg brace.[1]
When Ann Lewis was 14, her parents enrolled her in drama school. She attended Columbia University where she pursued an MA in English literature.[1] Ann Lewis has a Ph.D. in theatre from the University of California at Los Angeles.[2]: 329
Ann Lewis is the founder and director of Mark Taper Forum's Other Voices Project.[3] The Other Voices Project teaches theatre to disabled people and educates the publi about disability.[4]
In 1983, Ann Lewis produced, developed and performed in Tell Them I'm a Mermaid, a televised musical theatre performance exploring the lives of seven disabled women.[5] She later developed and performed in Who Parks in Those Spaces?, another televised special centring around disability.[6]
From 1984 to 1993, Ann Lewis played Peggy, the secretary, on Knots Landing. In 1993, she played Edna Miles in Light Sensitive at the Old Globe Theatre.[1]
Ann Lewis edited Beyond Victims and Villains: Contemporary Plays by Disabled Playwrights, which was published by Theatre Communications Group in 2006.[7][8] In 2010, her chapter "Disability and Access: A Manifesto for Actor Training" was published as part of The Politics of American Actor Training.[9] She is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Redlands.[10]