Stephanie is an international theatrical director working in a wide range of genres, styles and theatrical theories. She specialises in Shakespeare, devised works, and new play writing. She is the Artistic Director of Fortune's Fool Productions in Dublin, Ireland, and continues to direct in the US. Her directing credits include: As You Like It for The Southern California Shakespeare Festival 2016; Measure for Measure - Ireland 1916 for Fortune's Fool Productions 2016 - Measure for Measure - Ireland 1916 was included in the world wide Shakespeare Lives Initiative, Sponsored by the GREAT campaign & The British Council; A Silence for Frau Schirakesch & A Little Calm Before the Storm English Premier Staged Readings of Theresia Walser for The Goethe Institute.
While directing is Stephanie's main focus, occasionally she enjoys storytelling from a different perspective. Stephanie was most recently seen in the Irish premier of Jonna Adam's Gideon's Knot:
"Stephanie Courtney exhibit[s] a particularly impressive performance as forlorn mother, Corryn Fell. Such engrossing performances are rare so be sure to see this one in its current run."
Ben Allen, LeCool 2015
Stephanie is an international theatre instructor. Most recently teaching Movement for Actors and Theatre History at The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland, she teaches an annual Master Class in Viewpoints & Suzuki at the Pacific Conservatory on California's Central Coast and has conducted workshops in Greece, Italy, Ireland and the US.
Stephanie does not pursue design work, but she has a knack for and enjoys designing when circumstances allow. Playing with space and point of view with limited materials excites her and allows her to engage audiences in subjective realities through objective means. Stanislavski encouraged actors to use imaginary circumstances to create the appearance of truth, Stephanie uses truthful circumstances to create imaginative appearances. Read More
Stephanie spends almost all of her spare time writing. One of her first scripts, The Game of Chess, has been produced at a handful of theatre festivals for plays under 10 minutes long. She has performed her own adaptation of Sylvia Plath's lifes works entitled, Lost Edens in the US and Ireland. If you have the stomach for it, you can read her blog, Drowning in the Kitchen Sink (it's a bit dark) and you can read her favorite self penned short story, The Culmination, which was illustrated by Rob Dario. Read More