Lindsey Mantoan, assistant professor of theatre at Linfield College, will present “Reimagining early American history: The casting practices of Hamilton and OSF’s Oklahoma!” on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in Fred Meyer Lounge located in Riley Hall at Linfield.
In the talk, Mantoan will compare the casting practices of the blockbuster musical “Hamilton” to those of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s “Oklahoma!.” Both productions make visible people who have been erased by the dominant histories of early Americans, including people of color and queer people. By replacing the white bodies of the founding fathers and the white characters in the most iconic American musical with actors of color, these productions argue that the United States has always been a place of rich diversity.
Mantoan joined the Linfield faculty in 2017. She is the author of “War as Performance: Conflict in Iraq and Political Theatricality” (Palgrave 2018) and co-editor with Sara Brady of “Vying for the Iron Throne: Essays on Power, Gender, Death, and Performance in HBO’s Game of Thrones” (McFarland 2018) and “Performance in a Militarized Culture” (Routledge 2017).
The lecture is free and open to the public. The Linfield faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month. For more information, call 503-883-2409.
