Eileen Blumenthal is professor of Theater Arts at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She co-wrote Julie Taymor: Playing With Fire with Julie Taymor. She is also the author of Puppetry: A World History, also published as Puppetry and Puppets: An Illustrated World Survey, and Joseph Chaikin: Exploring at the Boundaries of Theatre. She has published hundreds of theater reviews and feature articles. She is the recipient of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and numerous other awards. She also has researched and published on the arts of Cambodia. She resides in New York City.