OUR InstructorS

Stephanie Hope Lawlor is an award-nominated actor, director, program creator, and sought-after teaching artist based in Hamilton. With over two decades of professional experience, she has performed across Canada in a wide range of acclaimed productions, including Whale Fall, Every Brilliant Thing, Mary’s Wedding, Venus in Fur, Salt-Water Moon, Ronnie Burkett’s Provenance, Doctor Faustus, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Dreamgirls, Evita, Little Women, and Assassins. She is a graduate of both the Randolph College for the Performing Arts and McMaster University.

A leader in Hamilton’s theatre community, Stephanie is the Artistic Director of Rook’s Theatre, known for its bold and emotionally resonant work. She is also a founding member of The Actor’s Forge, a professional training collective that fosters craft and collaboration for working theatre artists.

Stephanie is recognized for creating innovative theatre programming that responds to the needs of her community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed impactful virtual theatre training programs for all ages that kept artists connected and creating in isolation. Her work with theatre ensemble Young At Heart, sees her develop theatre programming specifically for seniors, resulting in devised theatre works such as A View From Here and As Time Goes By, which amplify underrepresented voices and life experiences.

As a teaching artist, Stephanie has worked with hundreds of students aged 6 to 76 across Ontario and Alberta, in disciplines ranging from voice and movement to scene study, monologue, and improvisation. She ensures her students have the opportunity to work on both established repertoire and brand-new works, giving them the tools to engage deeply with the classics while contributing to the creation of contemporary theatre. Her private coaching clients have gone on to train at top institutions such as Sheridan College, George Brown, Randolph College, the Tisch School of the Arts and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, to name a few. She regularly prepares students for their entrance auditions for schools like Sir Allan MacNab and Glendale.

At the heart of Stephanie’s pedagogy is a deep commitment to creating inclusive, trauma-aware, and artistically vibrant spaces. Her studio is grounded in safety, mutual respect, and creative risk-taking, creating an environment where students feel empowered to grow, explore, and challenge themselves. She is known for her clarity, warmth, and ability to meet artists exactly where they are, while guiding them to where they’re capable of going.