Janet Amos

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Janet Amos (born 12 September 1944) is a Canadian theatre actress, director, educator and playwright. [1]

The daughter of the actress Beth Amos, Janet has led theatre companies as the artistic director of the Blyth Festival (1979-1984 and 1994-1997) [2] [3] and Theatre New Brunswick (1984-1988). [4] She worked as an assistant professor of the University of Regina (2003-2006), as a guest artist at the University of Ottawa (2008) and as instructor at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. [1]

Amos is credited as leading an effort to save the Blyth Festival from closure, when she took over as the artistic director in 1994. [5] Prior to her assuming the role of artistic director, the Blyth Festival had lost thousands of audience members and amassed a $229,000 debt. [6] Amos' drove a fundraising campaign that raised more than $100,000 and created a season line-up that brought audiences back, helping the summer theatre to survive. [6]

Amos has also directed theatre productions at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille, Port Dover's Lighthouse Theatre, Regina's Globe Theatre, London, Ontario's Grand Theatre, Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and Ottawa's National Arts Centre, among others. [1]

Amos has appeared as an actor in the Canadian films Winter Kept Us Warm (1965), High (1969), Silence of the North (1981), Taking Care (1987), and More than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story (2003). TV show guest acting credits include Ada (1976), Road to Avonlea (1992), Twice in a Lifetime (2000), and PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (2000).

Amos' work has been recognized through various awards. The village of Blyth, Ontario gave her a Citizen of the Year Award in 1994, the University of Western Ontario awarded her an honorary degree in 1998 and the Association for Canadian Theatre Research made her an honorary member in 2005. [1]

She is married to Canadian playwright Ted Johns. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Amos, Janet". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia.
  2. ↑ Belanger, Joe (4 July 2014). "Canadian playwrights have benefited greatly from Blyth Festival". London Free Press.
  3. ↑ Powell, M.E. (2013). "Growing Opportunities: Theatre Thrives in Rural Saskatchewan". Canadian Theatre Review. 154: 11–17. doi:10.3138/CTR.154.003. S2CID   144364936.
  4. ↑ New, William H.; Berger, Carl; Cairns, Alan; Halpenny, Francess G.; Kreisel, Henry; Lochhead, Douglas; Stratford, Philip; Thomas, Clara (1990-12-15). Literary History of Canada: Canadian Literature in English, Volume IV (Second ed.). University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781487591168.
  5. ↑ Tom., Henighan (2000). Maclean's companion to Canadian arts and culture. Vancouver: Raincoast Books. ISBN   1551922983. OCLC   45799231.
  6. 1 2 Kirchhoff, H. (6 August 1994). "Its own saga of survival is Blyth's biggest hit". The Globe and Mail.
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