Dr. Edmund B. Lingan joined the University of Toledo in Theatre in August 2007.  He teaches theatre history/criticism courses and playwriting. Lingan also directs main stage productions.                 

Before coming to The University of Toledo, Lingan acted, directed, and wrote plays that were produced in theatres in New York City, where he lived and worked for 15 years. In New York, Lingan served as the managing director of Brooklyn’s One Arm Red, as the production and literary dramaturg for the Looking Glass Theatre in New York City, and as the Assistant to the Director of Programs at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City.                

Lingan’s area of research focuses on intersections between religion, spirirtuality. performance, and theatre--with particular emphasis upon intersections between occultism and theatre between the nineteenth century and the present. His book, The Theatre of the Occult Revival: Alternative Spiritual Performance from 1875 to the Present, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in November 2014.

Lingan's articles and reviews have appeared in several academic journals, including Dramatic Theory and Criticism, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Religion and the Arts, Ecumenica, Theatre Survey, Theatre Journal, Western European Stages, Religion and Theatre, Slavic and Eastern European Performance, and Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft.

Lingan is a member of Glacity Theatre Collective, which produces plays in Toledo, and sometimes tours productions to other locations in the United States and abroad. In connection with Glacity, Lingan co-created an original musical, The House of Vinyl, which was accepted for presentation at the 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival.                

Lingan earned a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York in 2006.