Amanda Testini

Amanda Testini is an Italian-Canadian director and choreographer based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her work spans opera and theatre across Canada and the U.S., with credits at The Glimmerglass Festival, Arts Club Theatre Company, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Bard on the Beach, Vancouver Opera, and Pacific Opera Victoria.

In the 2025/26 season, Amanda directs Orpheus in the Underworld (Toronto City Opera), La Rondine (Good Mess Theatre), and Orpheus and Eurydice (Pacific Opera Victoria). She is also the revival director for The Handmaid’s Tale (Detroit Opera), assistant director for Rigoletto (Vancouver Opera), and choreographer for East Van Panto: West Van Story (Theatre Replacement).

Recent directorial highlights include Amahl and the Night Visitors with Edmonton Opera and The Medium for Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. She also assisted on La clemenza di Tito (Pacific Opera Victoria), The Handmaid’s Tale (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity), and The Magic Flute (Vancouver Opera). At The Glimmerglass Festival she returned for a second summer to assistant direct Elizabeth Cree and choreograph Rumpelstiltskin in 2025, following her work on La bohème and The Rip Van Winkles the previous summer.

Ms. Testini’s theatre credits include movement direction for Teenage Dick (Arts Club Theatre Company) and directing Circus Ball for the Transform Festival with Urban Ink. She has choreographed multiple Theatre Replacement productions, including East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid (with Meg Roe), Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Panto Come Home! (with James Long and Maiko Yamamotola), and Pinocchio (with Stephen Drover). Additional choreography engagements include The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (Bard on the Beach), and Peter Pan, The Velveteen Rabbit, and Charlie Brown Christmas Double Bill (Carousel Theatre for Young People).

Testini has worked on several acclaimed projects, including assistant directing Three Winters (The Cultch) and choreographing The Craigslist Cantata, winner of the 2021 Holden Street Theatres Edinburgh Fringe Award. Her directorial work also includes the filmed version of Written on Skin (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity) and the world premieres of Mike Gill’s Everybody’s Free (to summon the devil) and Mily Mumford’s Controller 1.0 at the Pull Festival.

During her time as a Young Artist with Vancouver Opera, Testini directed Blond Eckbert and Cavalleria Rusticana in concert, choreographed and assistant directed H.M.S. Pinafore, and assistant directed La Cenerentola and The Barber of Seville. She is a graduate of Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts’ Triple Threat Program and Studio 58’s Acting Program at Langara College. When she isn’t making theatre in its many forms, you can find her doing her next favorite things: biking around Vancouver, hiking mountains, swimming in the ocean, and eating good food with good company.