ABOUT

I am a writer-director working primarily in contemporary opera. My productions have been commissioned by European theaters like the Bavarian State Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In addition to my work for the stage, I have made two virtual reality experiences (Duisburg Philharmonic) and a short film (Düsseldorf Symphony Hall). Currently I am writing a virtual reality chamber opera for the Augsburg State Theater together with composer Hauke Berheide supported by the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire and the Liz Mohn Foundation.


My path into opera was somewhat indirect. After completing a B.A. in History & Literature at Harvard, I received a Fulbright to train at the Berlin Volksbühne where I apprentice-directed for René Pollesch, Sebastian Baumgarten, and Chris Kondek. Over the next decade, I wrote and directed my own productions while pursuing a joint-doctorate in Cinema & Media Studies and Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago. These unlikely stopovers cultivated the artistic values at the core of my work today:


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.)


My commitment to new work occasionally takes 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 write about opera, performance theory, and Transatlantic issues 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 peruse the medial traces of my work below.

WHAT'S ON?

HAMLET/AMBLETO

THEATER FÜR NIEDERSACHSEN

SCHÖNER WOHNEN

NEUKÖLLNER OPER

an opera by Fredrik Schwenk

based on the 1705 opera by F. Gasparini

Apr. 24 2023

Music by Sir Henry

May 9, 10, 18-21, 25-28

June 6, 7, 13, 14, 21, 22, 27, 28

Photo Clemens Heidrich

RECENT

WINDY  CITY - TONHALLE DÜSSELDORF (FILM)

Conducted by Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen

Starring Darling "Shear" Squire


Written & Directed by Amy Stebbins

Music by Hauke Berheide

Editing by Christian Hill

Photography by Lukas Rehm & Christian Hill

Costumes by Katherine Stebbins

"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. 

HAMLET / AMBLETO  - THEATER FÜR NIEDERSACHSEN

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

"Director Amy Stebbins relies less on "explaining" the inner and outer conflicts with a pedagogical pointer-finger. Rather, she ties the entanglements of power and love into a very imaginative play of collaboration and confrontation. We see the silhouette of a city, individual houses. These stage-houses are traversable; behind every window there is life, behind every door lives a possible danger. This is beautifully illuminated - and works outstandingly well from a dramaturgical and dramatic point of view."


["Regisseurin Amy Stebbins setzt weniger darauf, die inneren und äußeren Konflikte mit dem pädagogischen Zeigefinger zu "erklären". Vielmehr bindet sie die Macht-Liebe-Verwicklungen ein in ein sehr fantasievolles Spiel des Mit- und Gegeneinanders. Wir sehen die Silhouette einer STadt, einzelne Häuser. Diese Bühnenhäuschen sind begehbar; hinter jedem Fenster ist Leben, hinter jeder Tür wohnt eine mögliche Gefahr. Das ist schön ausgeleuchtet - und funktioniert dramaturgisch-spielerisch hervorragend."]

- Arno Lücker, Opernwelt


"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


"A tragicomedy as absurd as it is realistic .... an evening to laugh and to cry."


["Eine so absurd wie realistische Tragikkomödie ... ein Abend zum Lachen und zum Heulen."]


- Barbara Wiegand, RBB24

SCHÖNER WOHNEN: EIN ABSTELLKAMMERSPIEL

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.