UPCOMING
HAMLET/AMBLETO
THEATER FÜR NIEDERSACHSEN
WINDY CITY
TONHALLE DÜSSELDORF
SCHÖNER WOHNEN
NEUKÖLLNER OPER
EINAR HAT'N VOGEL
STAATSTHEATER AUGSBURG
an opera by Fredrik Schwenk
based on the 1705 opera by F. Gasparini
Sept. 3, 17, 25, Oct. 9, 10, 17, Jan. 19, Apr. 24
Music by Sir Henry
May 9, 10, 18-21, 25-28
June 6, 7, 13, 14, 21, 22, 27, 28
Music by Hauke Berheide
October 2, 2022
Music by Hauke Berheide
March 12, 13, 2022
Photo Clemens Heidrich
Photo Lukas Rehm
Photo Thomas Koy
ABOUT
I'M AMY
I WRITE AND DIRECT.
Normally, writer-directors are creatures of the cinema. I happen to work across a variety of artistic disciplines -- primarily in opera (Bavarian State Opera, Opera Frankfurt, Deutsche Oper Berlin), but also in virtual reality experiences, musical comedy, and film. Next up on the docket, I'm writing and directing a mixed-reality chamber opera based on a recently published fantasy novel.
My path into this profession was hardly a matter of course. After completing my B.A. in History & Literature at Harvard, I left the US for the Berlin Volksbühne by way of a Fulbright fellowship where I worked for "auteur" directors like René Pollesch and Sebastian Baumgarten. I then returned to the US to pursue a doctorate at the University of Chicago in Cinema & Media Studies / Germanic Studies. These unlikely stopovers cultivated the artistic values at the core of my work:
1. Technical precision. (I don't like trash.)
2. Poetic intuition. (I don't like realism.)
3. Critical rigor. Art is not a means of self-expression, but an alternative means of expressing ideas.
As a writer-director in disciplines where directors seldom write, I am often reffered to as a "creator of new work." This "work" has appeared on the stages of the Bavarian State Opera, the Neuköllner Oper, the Augsburg State Theater, and the Frankfurt Opera.
My commitments to new work occasionally take the form of institutional intervention. From 2015-2017, I convened Transatlantic exchanges for artists and arts administrators in Chicago and Munich on the topic of new work development. In 2018, composer Hauke Berheide and I co-founded New Opera Dialogues, an artist-led platform to promote international dialogue about aesthetics and best institutional practices for contemporary opera.
I also publish on the topic for academic journals, trade magazines and newspapers.
These texts can be found in the "THEORY" section of this site.
For more information about me, please consult my C.V. Otherwise, feel free to puruse the medial traces of my work found below.
2022/2023
WINDY CITY - TONHALLE DÜSSELDORF (FILM)
"Windy City" is an ode to Chicago and the invisible force that connects north and south, the haves and the have-nots, the natural and the urban: the wind. This short silent film will premiere at the Düsseldorf Tonhalle with a live score performed by the venue's resident new music ensemble, no.tabu.ensemble neue musik.
Conducted by Marc-Andreas Schlingensiepen
Starring Darling Squire
Written & Directed by Amy Stebbins
Music by Hauke Berheide
Editing by Christian Hill
Photography by Lukas Rehm & Christian Hill
Costumes by Katherine Stebbins
HAMLET / AMBLETO - THEATER FÜR NIEDERSACHSEN
"...sophisticated direction of the performances."
- Online Music Magazine
Music and Libretto by Fredrik Schwenk
Conducted by Florian Zieman
Stage Direction Amy Stebbins
Set and Costumes by Anna Siegrot
Video Elisabeth Köstner and Lars Neumann
Dramaturgy by Jannike Schulte
with Neele Kramer, Yohan Kim, Felix Mischitz, Eddie Mofokeng, Sonja Isabel Reuter, Julian Rohde
and the chorus of the Theater for Lower Saxony
led by Achim Falkenhausen
"This disorienting thriller is impressively and authentically staged by Amy Stebbins through psychologically clever direction that alternates between tension-charged two-person constellations and ensemble arrangements."
["Diesen verwirrenden Beziehungskrimi setzt Amy Stebbins durch psychologisch klug disponierte Regie mit einem Wechsel von spannungsgeladenen Zweier-Konstellationen und Ensemble-Arrangements beeindruckend authentisch um."]
- Hildesheimer Algemeine Zeitung
Schöner Wohnen: ein Abstellkammerspiel - Neuköllner Oper
Daniel is a digital nomad fresh off the boat and ready to take on Berlin. His plans take a strange turn when he discovers an unexpected roommate in the broom closet. In this musical comedy, Erna and Daniel compete for time and space in their ever-shrinking apartment.
"Eine so absurd wie realistische Tragikkomödie ... ein Abend zum Lachen und zum Heulen."
- Barbara Wiegand, RBB24
Text & Direction by Amy Stebbins
Music by Sir Henry
Set & Costumes by Belén Montoliú
Video by Valle Döring
Choreography Marie-Christine Zeisset
Dramaturgy Änne-Marthe Kühn
with Daniel Sellier, Claudia Renner and Sir Henry
THEORY
INITIATIVES
NEW OPERA DIALOGUES is an international platform for opera creators and producers to discuss, debate, and dialogue about contemporary opera aesthetics as well as best practices for new work development.
THE CHICAGO-MUNICH THEATER EXCHANGE was a series of Transatlantic exchange between theaters in Chicago and Munich on the topic of new play development. Participating institutions included: The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theater, Goethe-Institut Chicago, and the Bavarian State Theater.
C.V.