Over a twenty-year period as a high school Drama teacher and theatre director, Linda Lori Burgess created dozens of successful, original plays in collaboration with her students, utilizing the process she conceived, developed, and outlined in her book Five Minutes to Curtain. At age nine, she began her theatre education at the Manitoba Theatre Centre School (now defunct,) and continued her formal training at the University of Winnipeg (B.A., Gold Medal recipient for Dramatic Studies), Syracuse University (M.A. in Theatre Arts), and at the University of Manitoba (B.Ed., Drama) She has also worked professionally as an actor in Winnipeg, Syracuse, N.Y., and in Minneapolis, MN. She is proud to count among her former students, successful Canadian actors as well as teachers of Drama. She continues to perform on stage as a singer in the popular Winnipeg retro band REWiND.