In recognition of the inherent challenges associated with telling intimate stories, particularly with respect to power dynamics, actor boundaries, and the pressures of repetitive live performance, I’ve pursued training as an Intimacy Director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. I’ve accumulated ~30 hours of training focused on the foundations and theories of Intimacy Direction, consent and…

What’s your damage, Heathers? A student asked me recently why Heathers was a musical worth producing, given its heavy content and violent themes. The list of content warnings for this show contains bullying and homophobia, suicidal ideation, murder, and multiple forms of abuse–and more. Yet through the ugliness the musical depicts, the story of Veronica…

Digital performance, Fall 2020 I had originally planned to direct something else this year. Covid of course intervened and the Linfield Theatre Program had to abandon our plans for our 101 season, which were unworkable with masking and social distance restrictions. So I planned to direct a radio play instead… But the headlines piled up…

Original adaptation of TROJAN WOMEN My adaptation of Trojan Women confronts the effects of war and trauma not just in the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War, but after war more generally, across time and space. This adaptation breaks out each woman of Troy from Euripides’ script and gives her a chance to tell her…

Photography by Liam Pickhardt, Set design by Robert Vaughn, Costume design by Laurel Peterson, Lighting design by Derek Lane Director’s Note “It’s Just a Sweet, Sweet Fantasy, Baby” High school is hell, especially for nerds, kids with disabilities, queer kids, and other communities that don’t sit at the popular table in the cafeteria. Nerds are…

by Heather Raffo Performed by Melory Mirashrafi In 1993, American playwright Heather Raffo traveled to Baghdad to visit her family after the Gulf War. The country was forever changed, and she began an ethnographic study of the women of Iraq—a study that spanned past the 2003 U.S. invasion. The play she created about the people…

  As resident dramaturg at Linfield College, I chair the committee to plan the production season, organize post-show roundtables, and meet with directors and casts to discuss historical and thematic research. In my second year as dramaturg, I created a website for research and resources here!

In the spring of 2018, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, and on the anniversary of the Columbine Shootings, playwright Lauren Gunderson released the rights to her one-woman show Natural Shocks for simultaneous national staged readings. I directed the reading at Linfield and turned the show into a chorus for…

A co-production of Stanford Repertory Theatre, Ethics in Society, Stanford Peace + Justice Studies Initiative, and Stanford TAPS, Democratically Speaking explores the idea and realities of “democracy,” from ancient Greece to the Occupy Movement. This performance features a dynamic interplay of voices, including Aeschylus, Thucydides, Euripides, Demosthenes, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Paine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant,…

The Knot delves into the very human impulse to locate our origins. Tracing one woman’s journeys back to West Africa, again and again, across multiple time periods and in multiple bodies, The Knot suggests that however alone we may feel on our journey, we carry tapestries of rich history inside us. The cast included undergraduate…

8, by Academy-Award winner Dustin Lance Black, is a documentary play taken from the transcripts of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial that eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The play offers a performative method for understanding the legal intricacies of this historic gay marriage trial. In 2012, Lindsey directed a production at…

For the 2016-2017 school year, Lindsey developed and programmed a club for Bay Area teens interested in musical theater. The club meets once a month for performance workshops and to see shows together. Workshops include: The Voice, Auditioning, Fosse, Fight Choreography, and Meyerhold http://www.bayareaetc.org/4thwall/ Since 2005, Lindsey has directed 9 musicals for the Bay Area…

In 2003, Princeton Summer Theater hired Lindsey to direct its production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown as a tribute to alumnus Clark Gesner. The Town Topics review of this production found that it “delivers warmth, whimsy, and optimism… Director Lindsey Mantoan, a recent Princeton University graduate, has assembled a multi-talented ensemble, all well-cast, carefully-rehearsed, and…

As a dramaturg, Lindsey has worked with scripts and devised performances, contributing to productions through historical research and artistic guidance. In addition to collaborating with production staff and actors, she’s developed actor packets, educational guides, and program notes.  The Idiot University of Texas at Austin, 2009 UT Connections University of Texas at Austin, 2008 On…

From 2005-2007, Lindsey was the Assistant Technical Director and Purchasing Agent for the American Conservatory Theater, the premiere regional theater in San Francisco. In this capacity, she managed budgets, expenses, and payroll for the scene shop, paint shop, and props shop. She generated drawings for these departments, and collaborated with mechanics, carpenters, and artists to…