BIO

Stephanie is an actor, director, and teacher. As a Charter Member of Word for Word, she has acted in over twelve stories with the company, including playing the Speedometer in the first chapter of Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! and Lizzie Borden in Angela Carter’s Fall River Axe Murders. She acted in the Word for Word  productions of The Islanders by Andrew Sean Greer and More Stories by Tobias Wolff  both of which toured France. In 2002 Stephanie directed Lady’s Dream and Bullet in the Brain, two of the three stories in the original Stories by Tobias Wolff.  Extended for over two months, Stories by Tobias Wolff  was called one of the 10 Best Theater Performances of 2002 by the San Francisco Chronicle. Stephanie also directed the noir thriller Angel Face by Cornell Woolrich at Z Space/Project Artaud. The Bay Area Critics’ Circle awarded Angel Face Best Ensemble for 2007. Stephanie has directed in residencies as a Word for Word teacher at the Far Arts Middle School in Oakland, the Conservatory Theatre Ensemble at Tamalpais High in Mill Valley, the Ecole Bilingue in Paris, and at the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, Oklahoma.

As an actor, Stephanie has worked throughout the Bay Area at theaters including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Campo Santo, Porchlight Theatre Company, and the Magic Theatre. Stephanie originated roles in The Lady Upstairs by Sara Felder (Intersection for the Arts), Osiris by John O’Keefe, and Available Light by Ellen Moore (A.C.T. Plays-in-Progress).  She was an original member of the improv comedy troupe Pulp Playhouse that played late nights at the Eureka Theater.  Stephanie won a Bay Area Critics’ Circle Award for her portrayal of Mum in the Industrial Strength production of Steven Berkoff’s East, which played for a year in San Francisco, before moving to La MaMa E.T.C. in New York.

A certified Associate Instructor of Fitzmaurice Voicework ®, Stephanie has taught Voice for the Actor at the University of San Francisco, Sonoma State University, and Chabot College.  Her professional dialect and text coaching work includes John Steinbeck’s Pastures of Heaven by Octavio Solis (California Shakespeare Theater and Word for Word), Hunter’s Point by Liz Gjelten (Strange Angels Theater), and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Word for Word).

Currently Stephanie is an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco in the Performing Arts and Social Justice Department, where in 2011 she directed Alice Munro’s short story The View from Castle Rock.  Stephanie has taught Acting, Voice, Shakespeare, and Characterization as a Lecturer at Sonoma State University, where she directed The Exception and the Rule, This is the Rill Speaking, Top Girls, and The Green Bird. At Chabot College, Stephanie directed The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Guys and Dolls. Stephanie is interested in creating ensemble-based performances, using vital powerful language and dynamic stage pictures. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University and an M.F.A. from the American Conservatory Theater.