Chiamaka Umeh, known professionally as Amaka Umeh, is a Nigerian actor who became the first Black actor and first genderfluid performer to portray Hamlet at the Stratford Festival in Canada in 2020, receiving critical acclaim for the performance. Umeh has received various accolades, including five Dora Mavor Moore Awards. Umeh moved to Canada at the age of 11 and has acted in numerous theatre productions, including The Tempest (2014), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2018), The Wolves (2018), Hamlet (2020–22), Death and the King's Horseman (2023), Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (2023), and A Strange Loop (2025). In 2026, Umeh made their television debut with the role of Dee Pharma on AMC's gothic horror series The Vampire Lestat.
Early life Chiamaka Umeh was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Umeh is of Igbo and Ikwerre descent and was raised in a Christian household. At the age of 11, Umeh moved with their family to Ottawa, Canada, and they later lived in Calgary and Toronto.
Umeh started acting as a child in Nigeria. Their first theatre experience was with a staged production of a Barney & Friends episode in a concert hall at the Muson Centre in Lagos, in which they sang the first musical number. Umeh kept acting during their primary and secondary school education, and later with Calgary's Summerstock Theatre Society for a few seasons. Umeh was two years into a Biological Sciences major at the University of Calgary when they decided to audition for the Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto, joining the musical theatre program in 2012 and graduating in 2014.
In 2021, Umeh completed the Stratford Festival Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Umeh also completed the Factory Theatre Mechanicals and Toronto Fringe T.E.N.T. Programs.
Career Umeh has starred in numerous Canadian theatre productions. In 2014, Umeh played the role of Ariel in a production of the play The Tempest by William Shakespeare at the Hart House Theatre in Toronto, and was also the narrator on Randolph College for the Performing Arts' production of the musical Into the Woods.
In 2015 and 2016, Umeh played the role of Hasana on Chloé Hung's play All Our Yesterdays, based on the kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls by the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2014. Umeh also worked as an assistant director on Crow’s Theatre's 2015 production of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn.
In 2017, Umeh played aunt Spiker on Young People's Theatre's production of the musical James and the Giant Peach, for which they received a nomination for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Female Performance.
In 2018, Umeh played the role of Hermia in a production of William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream at the High Park Amphitheatre in Toronto. That same year, they played the role of a high-achieving goalie in the Howland Company and Crow's Theatre production of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, for which they won a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role.
In 2020, Umeh made history by becoming the first Black and first genderfluid actor to portray Hamlet at the Stratford Festival in Canada, first in a filmed performance that was made available for streaming as part of FreeUp! Emancipation Day 2020, after the Stratford production of William Shakespeare's play had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and later in a theatre open to the public in 2022, for which their performance received critical acclaim.
In 2021, Umeh played the role of Captain Ahab in MOBY: A Whale of A Tale, a musical adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick at Pirate Life Theatre in Toronto, for which they won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble.
In 2022, Umeh narrated the audiobook version of Nigerian-Canadian writer Francesca Ekwuyasi's debut novel, Butter Honey Pig Bread. Umeh's narration was praised by the American newspaper The Stranger, who said that their "buttery voice and realistic accents added an extra layer of enjoyment".
In January and March 2023, Umeh portrayed jazz performer Rose Lacroix in Hannah Moscovitch's adaptation of Ann-Marie MacDonald's novel, Fall on Your Knees, at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto, and later toured with the play in Halifax, Ottawa, and London. In May and June 2023, Umeh played Styles/Buntu on Soulpepper Theatre Company's production of Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, for which they won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Leading Performer (General Theatre) in 2024. In December 2023, Umeh was an assistant director on the Cahoots Theatre Company's production of the play Sweeter by Alicia Richardson.
In 2026, Umeh made their television debut with the role of Dee Pharma, a member of the vampire Lestat's entourage on the third season of AMC's gothic horror series The Vampire Lestat.
For their performances in both the musical Narnia by Fiona Sauder, and the play Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary by Erin Shields, Umeh was nominated for two Dora Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in 2026. Umeh also hosted the Dora Awards ceremony on 29 June 2026.
In 2027, Umeh will reprise the role of Rose Lacroix in the play Fall on Your Knees at the Guloien Theatre in Toronto.
Personal life Umeh lives in Toronto, Canada.
Umeh identifies as genderfluid and uses she/her, they/them and he/him pronouns.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2021 The Strangers' Case Short film 2023 Death and the King's Horseman Olohun-iyo - Praise-Singer Filmed stage performance Hamlet Prince Hamlet Filmed stage performance
Television Year Title Role Notes 2026 The Vampire Lestat Dee Pharma Television series
Theatre As actor Year Title Role Playwright Company/Venue 2014 Into the Woods Narrator Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine Randolph College for the Performing Arts The Tempest Ariel William Shakespeare Hart House Theatre Jesus Christ Superstar Caiaphas Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice Lower Ossington Theatre 2015 This Is For You, Anna M. 4 / Daughter / Friend / Alicia / Jenny / Victim 3 / Woman 4 / Fiancee Suzanne Khuri, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Banuta Rubess and Maureen White Hart House Theatre All Our YesterdaysHasanaChloé Hung The Toronto Fringe Festival 2016 Next Stage Theatre Festival Echoes – A New Musical Performer Andrew Seok The Toronto Fringe Festival Iza the Brave Iza Mihaly Szabados The Toronto Fringe Festival Suitcases Performer Rosanna Saracino Artscape Sandbox 2017 James and the Giant Peach Spiker Timothy Allen McDonald, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Young People's Theatre PETS Cat Ishai Buchbinder Bellwoods Garage Studio "Grab 'Em by the Pussy" or How To Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb Performer Rouvan Silogix Bob Nasmith Innovation Backspace 2018 The Wolves #00 Sarah DeLappe Crow's Theatre Beethoven Lives Upstairs Christa Barbara Nichol Grand Theatre A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia William Shakespeare High Park Amphitheatre A Christmas Carol Abigail Charles Dickens and Dennis Garnhum Grand Theatre 2019 Towards Youth Ensemble Andrew Kushnir Crow's Theatre Blood + Soil Snowball Rouvan Silogix Bob Nasmith Innovation Backspace Hilda's Yard Bobbi Norm Foster Norm Foster Theatre Festival 2021 A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena, Flute and Moth William Shakespeare Tom Patterson Theatre MOBY: A Whale of A Tale Captain Ahab Lena Maripuu and Annie Tuma Pirate Life Theatre 2022 Hamlet Prince Hamlet William Shakespeare Stratford Festival 2023 Fall on Your Knees Rose Lacroix Hannah Moscovitch Bluma Appel Theatre Death and the King's Horseman Olohun-iyo - Praise-Singer Wole Soyinka Stratford Festival Sizwe Banzi Is Dead Styles/Buntu Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona The Michael Young Theatre 2024 Three Sisters Igwe Inua Ellams Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre 2025 A Strange Loop Thought 2 / Understudy Thought 1 Michael R. Jackson Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre Narnia Witch Fiona Sauder Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre 2026 Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary Not-A-Mary Erin Shields Guloien Theatre 2027 Fall on Your Knees Rose Lacroix Hannah Moscovitch Guloien Theatre
As assistant director Year Title Playwright Director Company/Venue 2015 Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play Anne Washburn Simon Bloom and Mitchell Cushman Big Picture Cinema 2023 Sweeter Alicia Richardson Tanisha Taitt Aki Studio
Audiobook Year Title Role Author 2022 Butter Honey Pig Bread Narrator Francesca Ekwuyasi
Accolades + YearAwardCategoryWorkResult 2017Dora Mavor Moore Awards Outstanding Female Performance (Musical Theatre) James and the Giant Peach 2019 Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role The Wolves 2022 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (Theatre for Young Audiences) Moby: A Whale Of A Tale 2024 Best Leading Performer (General Theatre) Sizwe Banzi Is Dead Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (General Theatre) Three Sisters Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (Theatre for Young Audiences) Sweeter 2025 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (Musical Theatre) A Strange Loop 2026 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (General Theatre) Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (Musical Theatre) Narnia 2022 Black Business and Professional Association Harry Jerome President's Award 2023 Stratford Festival Peter Donaldson Award 2025 Toronto Theatre Critics Awards Best Ensemble Performance in a Musical A Strange Loop
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