UTM alumna and playwright premieres latest work at Stratford Festival
Andrea Scott has never forgotten the moment, in her Grade 9 English class, when her dreams of becoming a writer were quashed.
“I remember proclaiming something I felt was very literary, and my English teacher shot me down so quickly. It killed my desire to be a writer, and I’ve never forgotten her,” says the University of Toronto Mississauga alum and former UTM instructor. Thankfully that desire to write came back for Scott, who just wrapped up a contract writing for Disney in West Hollywood. Now, her play Get That Hope is about to make its world premiere at the Stratford Festival.
Scott’s journey to becoming an award-winning playwright and screenwriter started when she (temporarily) gave up on writing in high school, and turned her attention to theatre. She received an honours bachelor of arts degree in theatre and drama studies through UTM’s joint program with Sheridan, with a minor in English. Later she earned a master’s degree in drama through U of T’s School of Graduate Studies and Faculty of Arts and Science.
She laughs as she recalls being “an annoying theatre kid” at UTM, but says she had many professors along the way who encouraged her and gave her a well-rounded theatre education.
“It is good to have a three-dimensional education regarding the ‘why’ of certain stories and the historical context,” Scott says. “I have a lot of those books still on my shelf because they inform how I write.”
