The Playwright: Carter W. Lewis

Carter Lewis is the prolific playwright of dozens of fulllength and short plays. His work has been produced in regional theatres around the country, including several in South Florida. Lewis’s most popular works include Golf With Alan Shephard (1994), Women Who Steal (1999), While We Were Bowling (2004), Evie’s Waltz (2008), The Storytelling Ability of a Boy (2009), The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider (2011), The Americans Across the Street (2012), and With (2017; read in the 2018 PBD New Year New Play Festival).

Lewis was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, and after several years in Norfolk, Virginia, was raised with three sisters in Columbus, Ohio. His father, William, was a career Navy pilot, and his mother, Gaynelle, an Army nurse. Lewis enrolled at Otterbein College (now University), where he received degrees in theatre and philosophy. First interested in a career as an actor and director, Lewis had an opportunity to write a play while an undergraduate, and the experience shifted his focus to playwriting.

After studying for his master’s degree in playwriting at the University of Oklahoma, Lewis worked as a freelance playwright and educator. He taught or was playwright-in-residence at Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, Cornell University, Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, and at his alma mater, Otterbein. Recently, Lewis retired as the playwright-in-residence at Washington University in St. Louis, where he joined the faculty to teach playwriting and dramaturgy in 1999. He currently lives in St. Louis, and spends his time writing, golfing, and researching horse racing for a new play.