Our Vision Statement: Disability Rights California will create individual and family supports, chosen and directed by the person with a disability

Redlands Daily Facts

July 1, 2009

Univeristy of Redlands professor honored for role in theater and disability

By Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/01/2009 11:04:11 PM PDT

REDLANDS - Local professor Victoria Ann Lewis received an Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Award for her efforts to bring diversity to the stage at the University of Redlands and elsewhere.

"My focus, at least during the last several years, has been on careers in the arts and training for people with disabilities," Lewis said. "I think kids get the message early on that they aren't welcome in the acting field and I want that to change."

As an aspiring actor, Lewis, who has a slight limp from a childhood case of polio, was told she could never be a professional actor.

"There is a prejudice in the field that people with disabilities cannot work on stage," Lewis said. "I was told I would never work as an actor. That was discouraging, but I went on to be a member of all three actors' unions, working on stage, film, and screen and they were wrong. At the time, it was devastating to be told I couldn't even train."

Since then, Lewis dedicated her career to acting herself, breaking barriers for disabled actors and teaching of the prejudice in the acting community.

"(Lewis) is always thinking of ways to enable others to express their dreams and creativity, particularly individuals who are often left out of the equation," Leela MadhavaRau, UR Advisor to the President and Associate Dean for Campus Diversity and Inclusion, wrote in an e-mail. "Her work in disability studies and theater is recognized nationally.

"She ensures that he plays with which she works address broader societal issues and, on top of that, she works to ensure that her productions are the catalyst for broader campus-wide dialogues and conversations."

Before coming to UR in 2000 to teach theater arts, Lewis founded the Other Voices Project in 1982 using a grant. The program was held at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. During her first 10 years there, she and others wrote and directed documentaries and plays about people with disabilities, teen mothers, and blue-collar workers.

In the second 10 years, she set up a play laboratory, an ongoing workshop where artists came together to work on their craft. Lewis said they did a lot of readings, festival and community events focusing on the disabled.

"(Lewis) brings unique and particular, extraordinary experiences," said Nephelie Andonyadis, a UR theater arts professor. "She's a bridge builder, bringing artists, community members, students together. It's something she's done for a long time and at a national level."

At UR, Lewis directed the spring play "The History of Bowling," which she helped develop with writer Mike Ervin. The play looked at disability and social and personal acceptance though a story of two lovers who do an alternative physical education assignment for school.

"It's one of those plays that asks some hard questions and asks the audience to look at things in new ways," Andonyadis said. "(Lewis) is persistent and courageous and brilliant about pushing this forward."

On Monday, Lewis was among four to receive the Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Award. The Equal Employment Opportunities Committees of Actors' Equity Association, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Ethnic Employment Opportunities Committee of Screen Actors Guild gave the award.

"It's always great to be honored by your peers and to have a chance to bring the talents of the disabled actors and the need for equity in training and hiring to light," Lewis said.

The awards have been given for seven years and are given to people who create a multicultural and representational community within the performing arts community.

"I can think of few people who better exemplify the intention behind the Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Awards, particularly this year's theme of `Storytellers' than (Lewis)," MadhavaRau wrote. "I think everything she does helps to strengthen the notion of inclusion and diversity on the campus."