Plymouth State University

Recipient Trish Lindberg (Front row,center), flanked by President Sara Jayne Steen (left) and Interim Provost Julie Bernier (right), was surrounded by colleagues at the 2007 EDies Awards presentation June 9 in Concord.

Plymouth State University Professor Patricia A. Lindberg (Trish), known across New England as a talented director and creator of community and children’s theatre productions, was recognized by her education colleagues with an award at the 14th annual Excellence in Education Awards (EDies) ceremony June 9 at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester.

The New Hampshire chapter, Phi Delta Kappa Education Award was presented to Lindberg in recognition of her “significant and continuous contribution to improving the lives of children and young adults.”

“Working with young people in theatre is an exciting and rewarding process,” Lindberg said. “Children are so close to their emotions, and their energy and passion is so real. I am honored to be around them, for they ignite my imagination and inspire me each and every time we are together.”

Lindberg is artistic director and co-founder (with PSU colleague Dan Perkins) of the award-winning Educational Theatre Collaborative (ETC) which performs at PSU each January. This year ETC took its performance of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord.

She is also artistic director and founder of the Kearsarge Arts Theatre in New London, the largest summer arts organization of its type in New England. Her original productions, often based on children’s writing, have toured to England, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand and South Africa.

“Trish Lindberg reminds us that the implicit promise of all art is that it can change the world for the better. And she knows that this promise rings most true when the art comes from the hands and hearts and voices of young people,” said New Hampshire Magazine Editor, Rick Broussard.

Her most recent creation is Theatre Integrating Guidance, Education and Responsibility (TIGER), a professional musical theatre company Lindberg co-founded with PSU graduate faculty Gary Goodnough and Gail Mears. TIGER focuses on social issues and has toured to schools throughout New England, performing and interacting with more than 130,000 school children in nearly 500 schools. Shows like I Was Born to Be Me and A Bully Isn’t Your Friend … Yet, teach values such as tolerance, inclusion, empathy and respect.

Other awards on Lindberg’s resume include: the 2006 Award for Excellence in Children’s Theatre from the New Hampshire Theatre Committee (NHTC), the 2004 N.H. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Support of Education, the 2003 PSU Distinguished Teacher and a New Hampshire Magazine Most Remarkable Woman award.

“I was pleased to see so many Plymouth State alumni, faculty and staff, present to honor their colleagues,” said PSU Interim Provost Julie Bernier. “What a wonderful evening to witness Trish Lindberg and so many of our former students being recognized for their outstanding contributions to education.”