Grinnell College - Department of Theatre bios

Elizabeth Bonjean received her M.A. in Drama from San Francisco State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle in Theatre History and Critical Theory. As visiting faculty for this academic year, she is teaching the department’s European drama lit/crit/theory/history courses, beginning acting, and a seminar on contemporary performances of cultural memory in response to war and the violence and loss experienced by communities in conflict.t

Lesley Delmenico – Assistant Professor of Theatre
(641) 269-4546
Bucksbaum 268
delmenic@grinnell.edu
Lesley Delmenico has taught at Grinnell since 2000. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She spent a decade as a stage and on-camera actor in Chicago, as well as a decade living outside of the United States, where she became interested in the postcolonial issues that became the subject of her dissertation. She directs and teaches acting and performance studies as well as theatre history, postcolonial and postwar British drama. Her research continues in intercultural and community-based performance, and she is currently exploring performances of reconciliation (both theatrical and in institutions like tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions). Last summer she participated in the Southern Africa Faculty Development Seminar and received a grant that allowed her to begin work on theatrical developments in East Timor.

Erin Howell-Gritsch – Costume Designer/Lecturer
(641) 269-3083
Bucksbaum 86
gritsche@grinnell.edu
Erin Howell-Gritsch became a staff member at Grinnell in 1999. Before that, she was the guest costume designer at the College. In addition to her staff duties, she also teaches Stagecraft and Design II. Recent productions include Travesties, Arrivals and Departures, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Measure for Measure. She has designed for Graffiti Theatre, Riverside Theatre, and Cornell College, where she has also served as visiting faculty, instructing courses in costume design and costume construction. Erin received her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa and her B.S. from Iowa State University.

Ellen Mease – Associate Professor of Theatre
(641) 269-3129
Alumni Recitation Hall (ARH) 116D
mease@grinnell.edu
Ellen Mease B.A. Drama, PBK, Vassar 1970; M.A. Drama U. Va. 1972; Ph.D. Drama and Interdisciplinary Humanities, Stanford 1983. Ellen joined Grinnell’s faculty in 1977. She teaches the department’s European drama lit/crit/theory/history courses from the Greeks to Beckett and Stoppard, with dramaturgy seminar offerings in Beckett/Absurdism, Greek drama, Hamlet and Revenge Tragedy, English Renaissance drama, Theory of Comedy and Ibsen/Strindberg/Chekhov. She’s recently directed Arcadia, Macbeth, Our Country’s Good, Uncle Vanya, and Travesties. She regularly teaches Grinnell’s Humanities offerings (101, 102, 140) in the Greek, Roman and early Christian cultures, and the team-taught interdisciplinary Medieval/Renaissance Culture course.

Alexander "Sandy" Moffett – Senior Faculty Status - Professor of Theatre
(641) 269-3128
Faculty House
moffett@grinnell.edu
Alexander S. Moffett, known to all as Sandy, came to Grinnell College in 1971. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of North Carolina and his Ph. D. from Florida State University. Sandy's specialty is American theatre and he teaches beginning and advanced acting courses. Grandfather to A.S. Moffett, VIII, Sandy enjoys communing with the earth and caring for his horses. Also a very musical person, Sandy enjoys playing guitar and singing along with his wife, Betty, in the Too Many Strings Band. Sandy directed Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms for the first theatre department production of the fall 2001 semester and was collaborating with two traditional Chinese opera companies in the provinces of Henan and Shanxi in Central China. Sandy recently assumed a seat on the Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors.

Justin Thomas- Assistant Professor of Theatre
641-269-3126
Bucksbaum 267A
thomasjm@grinnell.edu
Justin Thomas is a lighting and scenic designer and teacher whose most recent work has been produced by the Volkov National Theatre (Yaroslavl, Russia), the American Film Institute, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Arden Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre Center for the Arts, Happenstance Theatre, the 21st Century Consort, the Washington National Cathedral, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Rorschach Theatre Company, Imaginaton Stage, The Festival Playhouse, Potomac Theatre Project, Daniel Phoenix Singh/Dakshina Dance Company, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and the University of Maryland Opera Studio. As an educator, Thomas has worked for American University, University of Maryland, Villa Julie College, and the Olney Theatre Institute.

Thomas holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatrical Design from the Univeristy of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Communication from Kalamazoo College.

Erik Sanning – Technical Director
(641) 269-3130
Bucksbaum 175B
sanning@grinnell.edu
Erik Sanning is a 1989 graduate of Grinnell College. He spent the first two years after graduation working as the Technical Director/Lighting Designer for Ballet Iowa. In the summer of 1991, Erik was able to return to Grinnell as the Technical Director for the Theatre Department. In addition to his work with the Theatre Department, he is also one of the founding members of Grinnell Productions, a semi-professional theatre company based here in Grinnell. Erik has also been a member of IATSE, the professional stagehands union, since 1990.

Shawn Womack – Assistant Professor of Theatre, Dance
(641) 269-3286
Bucksbaum 181C
womacksh@grinnell.edu
Shawn Womack is a choreographer, performer and teacher of dance. From 1984-1999, she directed and choreographed for Shawn Womack Dance Projects, a contemporary dance and performance company that performed throughout the United States and the former Soviet Union. Her choreography has been recognized with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council as well as the 1996 Ohio Governor’s award in the category of performing arts. She has taught as a guest artist at numerous colleges and universities including University of California, Riverside, the Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati and Ohio University. Her recent choreography combines writing with ethnographic and historical research to delve into issues of memory, place, and identity. In the past three years, her work has been performed at Bryant College, Iowa State University, Des Moines Playhouse, University of California, Los Angeles, San Diego’s Sushi, and University of California, Riverside. She holds a master of fine arts in dance from the University of California, Riverside.