Stephen John

The work Coaching

Director of Theatre Design and Production, Interlochen Arts Academy and Summer Camp

began with mentorship of the highest caliber. I took a non-traditional path to my education and enjoyed the opportunity to experience many disciplines within the theatre world. As the Director of Theatre Design and Production at Interlochen Arts Academy and Summer Camp, I have worked tirelessly to pay for those great mentorship experiences to the next generation of theatre makers.

began with me working as a stage manager, designer, and technician. Taking every opportunity to be in the room allowed me to study how working directors were doing what I wanted to do. Those experiences are the bedrock of my practice and process. They have allowed me to work with actors, playwrights, designers, and technicians. I have found that leading a cast, a design team, a tech crew, and an audience to truthful storytelling is the most exciting and fulfilling thing I can do on the stage.

has evolved and has found me becoming much more reactionary to the events in our world that theatre can speak to. My students ask me why I "do theatre." My answer is always the same: Theatre is how I engage with the world on a political level. I find myself thinking about theatre as a reaction to the events in our world. Theatre allows me to express how those events make me feel and I hope that others relate to those feelings.

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The Work Selected productions, with galleries Coaching Where twenty-five students went What families ask me Fifteen questions, answered directly

S J