Egyptian YouTheatre Director Jamie Wilcox believes theatre can change the world and her master plan to make it happen is introducing young people to theatre as performers, behind-the-scenes magicians, and audience members!

Jamie graduated from the University of Utah’s distinguished Actor Training Program in 2004. During her time at the U of U she became an instructor for the Youth Theatre at the U where she discovered that introducing kids to theatre and watching them shine on stage was nearly as thrilling as being on stage herself!

After eight years at the Youth Theatre at the U of U, she moved to London in 2010 to study at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama earning an MA in Applied Theatre (Theatre in the Community and Theatre in Education). During her time in London she facilitated drama workshops with varying groups, using drama participation to: help primary school children with speech, language, and communication needs breakthrough these barriers through storytelling and dramatic play (with the London Bubble’s Speech Bubbles initiative); aid secondary school children with learning disabilities and mental health needs find a sense of self and community through participating in creative arts projects and theatre games (with GroOops); encourage support, connection, and discovery of self-worth in a group setting for women in recovery from drug and alcohol misuse, using theatre and drama techniques to help them create healthy support systems, gain confidence and a sense of self, and replace hazardous risk-taking behaviors with fulfilling and rewarding risk-taking through performance (with Outside Edge Theatre Company).

After completing her MA in 2011, she discovered the Egyptian Theatre was looking for someone new for the job of Director of their YouTheatre program. Having worked with the Egyptian previously, she knew this was a place she could have some fun and make a difference for young people through theatre. She got the job and has never looked back.

Besides theatre, Jamie loves to read, sew, cook and bake, eat dark chocolate, Skype with people who have British accents, play with Salinger (a dog who thinks he’s a human), and most especially spend time with her most favorite person on the planet, her daughter Aidan.

“If you take a child to the theater, not only will they practice empathy, they might also laugh uproariously, or come home singing about science, or want to know more about history, or tell you what happened at school today, or spend all dinner discussing music, or learn how to handle conflict, or start becoming future patrons of the arts.” — Lauren Gunderson