User:InConversationwithAlan/sandbox

Amanda Harris (born 1963) is an award-winning English actress. She was born in Adelaide and spent her childhood in Papua New Guinea before moving to England at the age of 10. She trained at Arts Ed and on leaving in 1982 her career began within the company Cheek by Jowl and was the leading lady when Cheek by Jowl was awarded the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Newcomer. A long-standing member of the Royal Shakespeare Company she received an Olivier Award for her role as Emilia in the 2005 RSC production of Othello. .

Theatre
In 1985 Amanda played Desdemona in Othello for Cheek by Jowl and continued with Marina in Pericles, she took the title role of Racine’s Andromache, Amelia, in an adaptation of Vanity Fair, extensively touring the UK and abroad for over two years, including the Edinburgh Festival and eventually transferring to the Donmar Warehouse in London's west end. In addition during 1985 she appeared in Fairy tales of New York, Croydon and then Lydia in Pride and Prejudice at Birmingham Rep: this also transferred to London, playing in the famous Old Vic theatre. This intense work focused approach to life, with a strong ethical balance, is reflected throughout Amanda's career. Her achievements include six world premières during the time she spent at the RSC.

Numerous seasons with the RSC began in 1986 with her playing Emilia in Two Noble Kinsmen, the inaugural play in The Swan at Stratford and continued with Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Annie Mowbray in Country Dancing (World Première), Graceilita in Worlds Apart (World Première), Ruby in Singer written by Peter Flannery (World Première), Faith in Sarcophagus (World Première), Sarah in Speculators written by Tony Marchant (World Premiere), Virgilia in Coriolanus with Charles Dance, Anna in Gorky’s Barbarians, Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew opposite Anton Lesser, Penelope/Mermaid in The Odyssey by Derek Walcott (World Première), Merial in A Jovial Crew with music by Ian Drury, Cecily in Travesties (Transfer to Savoy), Emilia in Othello with Sir Anthony Sher as Iago (Laurence Olivier Award 2005) Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Celia in As You Like It 2006/2007 (Clarence Derwent Award) Lady Macduff in Macbeth, Mrs Marwood in The Way of the World, The Servant, all with James Purefoy, Lady Coomb in Arcadia all at Birmingham Rep under the Artistic directorship of Bill Alexander, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Battersea Arts Centre with Corin Redgrave as Macbeth directed by Tom Morris, The Constant Wife with Jenny Seagrove (West End, Lyric).

Work continued with Take the Fire, a one woman show directed by Paul Garrington and Cause Celebre at the Lyric, Hammersmith directed by Neil Barlett, of which in the final volume of his autobiography, A Positively Final Appearance, Alec Guinness was moved to comment: 'Amanda Harris is brilliant as Mrs Rattenbury - both attractive and slatternly, humorous, intelligent, wayward and deeply moving'.

It is perhaps this fearless adaptive capacity, combined with the total commitment to each character's 'intention' within every role she performed, that characterises the quality of her work. Harris' career continued with her lively and enticing performance as The Duke of Buckingham in Richard 3rd, Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew at The Globe, the first all-female season at the Globe, the cast included Kathryn Hunter, Janet McTeer and Linda Bassett. Greg Doran, the present Artistic Director of the RSC, directed her in The Real Inspector Hound and Black Comedy at The Comedy (West End)

Harris delivered a one women show, Picasso’s Women (Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival) playing Francoise Gillot. Other women to have played Picasso’s Women include; Susannah York, Toyah Wilcox and Jerry Hall. Despite not being a trained singer and having no experience whatever of singing, she successfully accomplished performing the character Billie Trix in Closer to Heaven, a musical by The Pet Shop Boys and Jonathan Harvey.

The role of Titania in The Fairy Queen by Purcell (Paris and New York 2010) directed by Jonathan Kent, (a Glyndebourne production) was accepted solely as a final farewell, Titania being one of her recognised parts.

Television
Oliver Twist (Nancy opposite Eric Porter), The Bill, Casualty, Jeeves and Wooster (Styffy Byng opposite Stephan Fry and Hugh Laurie), Shaman (Starring Clive Owen), Sam Saturday (Starring Ivan Kaye. Amanda played Sam Saturday’s regular girlfriend), A Touch of Frost (Opposite David Jason and Charlotte Cornwall), The Vice (Opposite Richard McCabe, Marc Warren and Ken Stott), The Locksmith (Starring Warren Clarke), Take Me Home (Starring Keith Barron as her father) Midsomer Murders (opposite John Nettles and Harriet Walters), Heartbeat (Co-starring with Brian Protheroe), Campion –Death of a Ghost (Peter Davison and Brian Glover), A Vote for Hitler…and many other performances on radio, recitals, guest artiste, narration and voice overs.

Colony Room Club 1998 – 2008 Social Secretary & Committee Member

Time was often squeezed in from an acclaimed acting career so that she could assist with events, high profile exhibitions and auctions to encourage sponsors to fund the constant repairs of this historic 60 year old members’ only club, founded by Muriel Belcher. Amanda let acting take a back seat in 2008 to become the full time carer to Michael Wojas, her ex-partner and Proprietor of The Colony Room Club, until his untimely death on June 6th 2010.

Current and future plans

More recently her professional interests have become focused toward directing for the theatre and her personal interests lie in having undertaken the necessary training to become a registered psychotherapeutic counsellor. When possible she provides pro bona developmental and drama support workshops within community provisions, for example at The Dragon Cafè, based in the crypt at St. George the Martyr church in Borough, south London.