Sarah Mantell

Sarah Mantell
OccupationPlaywright
Notable workIn the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot
AwardsSusan Smith Blackburn Prize (2023)
Websitewww.sarahmantell.com

Sarah Mantell is an American playwright, whose work In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot led to them being awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2023 and a finalist in the 37th Lambda Literary Awards in 2025.

Career

Mantell was awarded a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Fine Arts from Yale School of Drama.[1] In 2018 Mantell's work Everything That Never Happened - a revisionist interpretation of The Merchant of Venice - had its world premier.[2] Reviewed by The Jewish Chronicle, it was described as aiming to "right the wrongs Shakespeare wrought".[2] The Los Angeles Times described Mantell's version as "blisteringly feminist" and one that makes Shylock more human through new eloquence.[3] Their 2021 essay 'Touch the Wound But Don't Live There' has been analysed in relation to mental health, boundaries and performance.[4]

Nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2025, Mantell was awarded the prize for their play In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot.[5][6] Other nominees that year included Zadie Smith, Karen Hartman, a. k. payne, Anupama Chandrasekhar, amongst others.[5][7] The play was partly developed during a MacDowell Fellowship.[1] The characters are all over 50 years old - Mantell described how they wanted to write characters that could be "something my generation of actors could age towards".[8] The New York Times reviewed a 2024 production and was sceptical of some of the characterisation.[9] The play also led to Mantell being a finalist in the 37th Lambda Literary Awards in 2025.[10]

They are non-binary.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sarah Mantell - MacDowell Fellow in Theatre". MacDowell. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  2. ^ a b Miller, Gerri (2018-09-26). "Jewish Revisionist 'Merchant of Venice'". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  3. ^ "Review: 'Everything That Never Happened' reconsiders 'The Merchant of Venice' through a Jewish perspective". Los Angeles Times. 2018-10-12. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  4. ^ Bolon, Matthias (2022-08-29). "Asserting Boundaries and Conflict Resolution with "A Midsummer Night's Dream"". Journal of Consent-Based Performance. 1 (2): 15–31. doi:10.46787/jcbp.v1i2.2877. ISSN 2771-8298.
  5. ^ a b Wiegand, Chris (2023-03-27). "In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot: play about 'queer ageing and capitalism' wins prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  6. ^ "The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize : in the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot by Sarah Mantell". The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  7. ^ "Zadie Smith among Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalists". The Stage. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  8. ^ a b Lang, Brent (2023-03-27). "'In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot' by Sarah Mantell Wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize". Variety. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  9. ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura; Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2024-10-30). "Two Climate Change Plays Keep the Flames of Hope Alive". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  10. ^ Admin, Lambda (2025-10-04). "Announcing the Winners of the 2025 Lammy Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
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