Eggtooth Productions began in the late 1980s as a community-based theater in Deerfield, MA. Incorporating as a non-profit in 2008, the company began commissioning new work addressing social challenges and excavating the stories of neglected women in history.
The success of The Captivation of Eunice Williams (2004) led to national and international performances. A similar success was found at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian with TRUTH, a new American opera about the life of Sojourner Truth. TRUTH was then broadcast from WGBY and performed at the New York International Fringe Festival.
Eggtooth found a niche in the local community in 2011 by initiating a run of annual festivals in underutilized and alternative downtown spaces and welcoming new, diverse audiences. These themed festivals shined a light on the stories of marginalized persons and addressed social and environmental issues through a variety of media.
Particular emphasis has been on work that encourages placemaking, like our commission for the First National Bank in Greenfield, a new adaptation of Frankenstein, fondly referred to as “Frank in the Bank” that went on to further performances, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Our site-specific audio and app-based work expanded our theatrical range during the pandemic to create new experiences for our community to share.
About Us
Leadership and Core Company
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Founder & Artistic Director (she/her)
Linda has lived in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass for over thirty years where she and her husband Chris raised two boys, Mark and Matt. Since arriving in the Valley after a stint in NYC as an actor/singer she has been directing, producing, presenting, and teaching theater locally, nationally, and internationally through Eggtooth Productions. She has a BA from Middlebury College, received an MFA from UMASS, Amherst, and studied at the National Shakespeare Company Conservatory. Her greatest pride is overseeing the ongoing evolution of Eggtooth and she looks forward to the next iteration of creation with this great collective of artists.
Photo credit: Kate Gariepy Hunter
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Creative Director (he/him)
John has been creating and teaching theater in the Valley since 1999, with a focus on immersive theater and lighting design. A 2024 artist-in-residence at Mass MoCA, John and co-creator Alli Ross are developing a site-responsive immersive audiowalk for two in the Museum called Where I End & You Begin.
Past works include Stagehand (online/Shea Theater/Academy of Music), Sam’s Place (Shea Theater); Gem of the Valley (Chester Theatre), Deus Ex Machina (Shea Theater), The Winter’s Tale (Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center), and Before You Became Improbable (Emily Dickinson Museum).
The 2020 recipient of the Reba Robertson Award from the Children’s Theater Foundation of America, John is also the Director for Performing Arts at the Amherst Regional Schools, where he oversees the theater program, and the Director of DASAC, a large, progressive summer arts program at Deerfield Academy. John’s work with students has been profiled in American Theatre Magazine and at the American Alliance for Theater Educators national conference.
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Our Core Artists
While we regularly collaborate with new artists, an ensemble of committed performers and creators has evolved from our collective work. With a shared design and performance language and love for new forms, the ensemble has been behind the major immersive works created by Eggtooth.
