Directing Notes
The first play I directed was Waiting for Godot. Yup. I set it in an AIDS hospice. Made Didi & Gogo lovers, Didi on his death bed and Pozzo & Lucky his hallucinations. (I never asked for the rights from the Beckett Estate. It was a completely illegal production.) I won an Honourable Mention from USA Today's College Academic Team for the production and the concept. (They didn't know anything about the Beckett Estate when they published their results. Thankfully, I don't think anyone at the Beckett Estate reads USA Today.)
Everything about that production encapsulates my directing choices and style, wrapped in complete ignorance, unflappable resolve and blind hubris. Thankfully, I've learned a lot since then, but the impulse to subvert pre-conceived ideas about established works, to make theatre not just relevant but imperative, to take huge risks (knowingly and unknowingly) and to unabashedly share that work is still at the core of what I do.
Below are videos and images from a handful of shows I've directed with a full list of credits at the end. You can also read about my work as an actor and instructor and see all of the highlights. If you're interested in my work, please contact me at stephanie@stephaniecourtney.ie.
Are Our Souls Our Own? An Exploration of Shakespeare's Women
Directing Credits
As You Like It: Southern California Shakespeare Festival
Measure for Measure - Ireland 1916: Summer Shakespeare Dublin Castle & Ireland National Tour
A Silence for Frau Schirakesch & A Little Calm Before the Storm: English Premier Staged Readings of Theresia Walser
(Not a Traditional) Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare in the Iveagh Gardens
Gidion’s Knot : Irish Premier, The Back Loft
Scars: Collaborations Festival 2015, Smock Alley Theatre, Main Space
Much Ado About Nothing: Shakespeare in the Iveagh Gardens
(A Brief) Midsummer Night’s Dream: Bloom Fringe Festival
The Tenaments: Collaborations Festival 2014, Smock Alley Theatre, Main Space
Lost Edens : Irish Premier, Chancery Lane
Various Pieces: Under My Bed 2014, Smock Alley Theatre, Main Space
The Tempest: Shakespeare in the Iveagh Gardens
Romeo & Juliet (Unplugged): Shakespeare in the Iveagh Gardens & Ranelagh Gardens
A Joycean Christmas*: Gaia Arts Center, Bekerkely, CA
The Cripple of Inishmaan: The Magic Theatre, San Francisco
Kimberly Akimbo: Santa Rosa Repertory
Annual Bloomsday Celebration** : Berkeley & San Francisco
Beckett Shorts: San Francisco Beckett Festival
Kid Simple: PCPA New Play Festival
40th Anniversary Gala: PCPA TheatreFest
Ah, Wilderness!: The Western Stage
Encore!: Spring Sirkin Production, US National Tour (3 Annual Tours)
Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare by the Sea, Los Angeles Tour
Galileo: University Theatre, California State University, Long Beach
A Comedy of Errors: Shakespeare by the Sea, Los Angeles Tour
Waiting for Godot: Actor’s Circle Theatre, Hollywood