K. ELIZABETH STEVENS

Theater and Opera Director
Associate Professor of Theater
Swarthmore College
500 College Ave.
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania  19081
esteven1@swarthmore.edu
kelizabethstevens.com

EDUCATION

M.F.A., Yale School of Drama, Directing, 1999    
B.A., Reed College, Theater, 1993

TEACHING

Swarthmore College
Spring 2006-present
Associate Professor of Theater
Department Chair

Courses taught:
     Theater 001: Theater and Performance
     Theater 002 : Acting I
     Theater 012 : Acting II
     Theater 035: Directing I
     Theater 055: Directing II
     Theater 015: Performance Theory and Practice
     Interpretation Theory 91 : Corporeality and Storytelling
     Music 24 : Opera Production
     Theater  099: Senior Company
     Theater 102: Acting Capstone
     Theater 022 : Production Ensemble

Directed The Skin of Our Teeth; Theater of All Possibilities; Cassandra; Airswimming; A Bright Room Called Day; The Royal Singer; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Ivona, Princess of Burgundia; Spring Awakening, Through the Leaves.

Advised numerous thesis projects in Playwriting, Dramaturgy, Directing and Acting.

Bryn Mawr College
Lecturer, September 2002-December 2004
   Fundamentals of Acting
   Acting II: Scene study
   Solo Performance
   Directing I
   CSEM (Interdisciplinary Writing Course): The Performance of Self
   CSEM: The Play of Light (Interdisciplinary Writing Course
   CSEM: Classical Mythology and the Contemporary Imagination

Directed Jean Anouilh’s Antigone, Chekhov’s Three Sisters and Charles Mee’s Big Love

Southern Methodist University
Adjunct, Spring 2001
     Fundamentals of Directing 

Yale Summer Program
Acting Teacher, July-August, 1999-2000
    Taught two classes in acting to select group of high school and college students for college credit. Oversaw assignments, created exercises,     evaluated      performance, and lectured.

N.Y.U. Playwrights Horizons
Directing Mentor, January-April, 2000
     Mentored directing students as they directed their third-year projects. Attended rehearsals and meetings, gave feedback and asked questions to                 stimulate more thoughtful choices. Evaluated both process and final production.

Dallas Theater Center
Acting for Shakespeare, Summer, 2001
      Taught the techniques of speaking verse and meeting the particular challenges of Shakespeare to teenagers in Dallas.

Dallas Theater Center
Acting Teacher, Summer, 2001
     Taught two classes in acting technique to high school students.

Dwight/Edgewood Project
Mentor and Acting Teacher, Summer 1998
      Taught acting games and techniques to high school and middle school students from the New Haven community, directed and acted in a play                      with the kids at the end of the summer.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Dallas Theater Center
Artistic Associate and Literary Manager, 2000- 2001
Supervisor: Richard Hamburger
     Directed mainstage plays; served as Resident Dramaturg on DTC productions; managed the literary office; taught classes at the DTC lab; oversaw             local casting; wrote and edited theater publications; worked with artistic director on season selection and planning; co-administered and                             moderated "In Perspective" discussions; served as liaison to the Dallas community; wrote grant proposals.

Target Margin Theater
Artistic Associate, 1995-1998
Supervisor: David Herskovits
     Was one of five artistic associates of the Obie Award-Winning Target Margin Theater company. Directed plays, read scripts, taught acting workshops, helped with benefits and organizational activities, assisted on productions.

Headlong Dance Theater
Director/Creator: Desire
May 2012, Performing Garage, Philadelphia
      Spent a year and a half creating a full-length original performance piece for the  renowned Headlong Dance Theater. 

Curtis Opera Theater
Director: Impressions of Pelleas and Melisande and The Medium, February 2009
      Directed two operas for the Curtis Opera Theater in Philadelphia.  

Producer's Management Group
Script Reader, 1999-2001
Supervisor: Benjamin Mordecai
     Read and evaluated scripts for Tony Award-winning producer Benjamin Mordecai.

International Festival of Arts & Ideas, New Haven
Assistant Company Manager, 1998-1999
Supervisor: Cynthia Hedstrom
      Organized all aspects of company management for a multi-million dollar international arts festival featuring Little Richard and Roberta Flack.                    Designed spreadsheets and databases, organized and procured housing, hospitality and transportation for over 400 artists and lecturers. Was                    primary liaison with hotels, restaurants, limousine companies and private drivers. Oversaw staff of eight.

Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festivals
Director/Performer, June 2006-June 2007
      Co-directed Speak, Mascot, an original, collaboratively created performance piece for Workshop for Potential Movement, a physical theater                        company. Performed  in Headlong Dance Theater’s CELL, a performance journey for one audience member at a time guided by cell phone.                          Toured with Headlong’s CELL to the New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas in the summer of 2007.

PUBLICATIONS

“Team Sunshine’s 24-Year Performance Experiment: The Sincerity Project” http://www.culturebot.org/2015/01/23188/2318
“A Community of Like-minded Theater Professionals: A Necessary Ingredient for Success.” Acting for the Stage, ed. Anna Weinstein and Chris Qualls, New York: Routledge, 2017, 87-94.

GRANTS AND HONORS

Blanchard Fellowship Award             2014
John Badham Scholarship                 1996-1999
Halmos Foundation Grant                 2003

SPEAKER

Moderator, Changing Lives, Changing the World panel, Swarthmore College at Phillips Gallery, 2017. 

Moderator, Airswimming, post-show panel, Walnut St. Theater Studio 6, 2017.
    
Moderator, Fall Dance Concert, post-show panel, Swarthmore College, 2016.

Belting the Thong: Loosening the Bonds of Identity in Contemporary Cabaret, Faculty Lecture, Swarthmore College, 2015.
    
Collaborative Theater Making, Aydelotte Second Tuesday series, Swarthmore College, 2016.
    
Moderator, Spring Awakening, post-show discussion with Jonathan Franzen, 2007.

WORKSHOPS AND TRAININGS

Let’s Tell Our Own Stories: Making Theater from Scratch, Teachers As Scholars Program, Swarthmore College. (Upcoming: February 2018).

Talking for Dancers, Headlong Dance Theater, Philadelphia. Approaches to using text for movement artists. 2008

Is Something Happening, Headlong Dance Theater, Philadelphia. Site-specific and in-situ performance creation. 2009
 
Communicating Science, Center for Innovation and Leadership and Department of Physics, Swarthmore. 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.

SERVICE

Swarthmore College:
   Honors Committee                                                                               2017-2018
     Department Chair                                                                                 2016-present
     Acting Chair                                                                                           2012-2013
     CJC                                                                                                           2011-2012
     Cooper Committee                                                                                2014-2015
     CAR Committee                                                                                     2011-2014
     Asso. Provost Search Committee                                                       2013-2014
     Theater Dept. Search Committee (Set Designer)                           2010-2011

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

     ATHE; SSDC

LANGUAGES

   German and Russian, reading proficiency
   French, fluency

DIRECTING: