Linda Hartzell

Linda Hartzell (Artistic Director Emerita) served as Artistic Director of Seattle Children’s Theater from 1984 until her retirement in 2016. She received her BA in Education from the University of Washington. She directed 87 plays, 56 of which were world premieres, for SCT including Little Rock, Goodnight Moon, Pink and Say, Still Life with Iris, The Odyssey, Afternoon of the Elves, The Rememberer, and A Single Shard. She directed The Grapes of Wrath at Intiman Theatre and SCT’s production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at Syracuse Stage. In the Seattle area, Linda directed at Empty Space, the Group Theatre, and a mobile outreach show for Seattle Rep. She premiered Angry Housewives at Pioneer Square Theatre. Linda has also directed in Chicago, Austin, Tempe, Japan, Australia, and in Barcelona for the Olympic Arts Festival in 1992. She served on the board of Theatre Communications Group and was Vice President of ASSITEJ/USA. Linda is a recipient of the Gregory Falls Sustained Achievement Award given by Theatre Puget Sound, the Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, and the Washington State Governor’s Arts Award. She received the Distinguished Achievement Award from UW College of Arts and Sciences in1994. She was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in 1998. The Children’s Theatre Foundation of America presented her with the prestigious Orlin Corey Medallion award in 2013 for contributing to the cultural enrichment of children and youth through artistic work in theatre. In 2015 Linda was given the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Women of Influence award. In 2017 she was chosen as Theatre Practitioner of the Year by Theatre Communications Group. Linda currently serves on the Executive and Foundation Boards of the Society of Directors and Choreographers.