Lainie Vansant (she/her) has worked on productions as an actor, stage manager, playwright, dramaturg, and director and holds a PhD in theatre and performance studies from the University of Missouri - Columbia, for which she translated and adapted a play by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Directing at the University of South Dakota. Her plays have been performed in community theatre and summer stock and have received multiple readings at venues like the Midwest Dramatists Conference, the University of Missouri, KCACTF Region V, and Pot Luck Productions. In addition, she has directed and helped develop short plays for the Mizzou New Play Festival, the Starting Gate New Play Festival, Short Attention Span Theatre, and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) - Region V. She has also served as a Managing Director for the Mizzou New Play Series the last three years, and has served on the planning committee for the University of Missouri’s production of “The 24 Hour Plays.” Her research interests include translation, adaptation, and Latin American theatre.

Directing, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, Marketing, Theatre of the Global Majority

Adaptation, Translation, Dramaturgy, Playwriting, Audience Development