Background + Training
Bio & Résumé
© your very own website built with WebStarts.com
gina.stevensen@gmail.com
Gina Stevensen grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and moved to New York City in 2007 to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where she received her BFA in Drama with a minor in Applied Theater. She completed her primary training at Playwrights Horizons Theater School, and went on to study at the Experimental Theater Wing where she focused on acting and creating original work. She studied abroad at the International Theater Workshop: Amsterdam as well as in Bangalore, India with Theater Mitu's South India Artist Intensive. She is currently an MFA candidate in Playwriting at Columbia University under the guidance of Lynn Nottage, David Henry Hwang, and Chuck Mee.
As a writer and performer, Gina's work has been presented at such NYC venues as Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Columbia University, NYU, The Point in the Bronx, Looking Glass Theatre, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, the 45th Street Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Urban Stages, and Arlene's Grocery.
Book of Esther tells the story of Esther, a seventeen-year-old girl growing up in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, as she decides what her future will be. The play received a workshop production in Binghamton, NY in August 2016, was a semi-finalist for the 2016 Princess Grace Award, won third place in the international Jewish Playwriting Contest, and will be produced in November-December of 2017 with Joust Theatre Company in NYC.
Cruel Sister is a play currently development at Columbia University. Dawn and Shelby are twins struggling with popularity and body image. Their mother recently passed away in a car accident, and their distant father doesn't know what to do with the pain they all feel. When a new drama teacher at their high school comes into their lives, introducing them to a mysterious folktale about jealous sisters that ends in bloody violence, reality and myth start to blur.
The Time Crawlers Save the World was the grand prize winner at Manhattan Repertory Theatre's LONG One Act Competition, and received a space grant for performance at Looking Glass Theatre.
Countdown was originally workshopped at Tribeca Performing Arts Center through the Writers in Performance Workshop, and then produced at Open Hydrant Theater Company in March, 2014.
Gina participated in the 36-Hour Play Festival Celebrating Women Artists at Urban Stages in March of 2015, where she wrote the short play, Troll Doll's Big Day.
She is a core member of The Hess Collective, a former member of Open Hydrant Theater Company and a former literary committee member at the off-Broadway house Urban Stages.
Book of Esther tells the story of Esther, a seventeen-year-old girl growing up in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, as she decides what her future will be. The play received a workshop production in Binghamton, NY in August 2016, was a semi-finalist for the 2016 Princess Grace Award, won third place in the international Jewish Playwriting Contest, and will be produced in November-December of 2017 with Joust Theatre Company in NYC.
Cruel Sister is a play currently development at Columbia University. Dawn and Shelby are twins struggling with popularity and body image. Their mother recently passed away in a car accident, and their distant father doesn't know what to do with the pain they all feel. When a new drama teacher at their high school comes into their lives, introducing them to a mysterious folktale about jealous sisters that ends in bloody violence, reality and myth start to blur.
The Time Crawlers Save the World was the grand prize winner at Manhattan Repertory Theatre's LONG One Act Competition, and received a space grant for performance at Looking Glass Theatre.
Countdown was originally workshopped at Tribeca Performing Arts Center through the Writers in Performance Workshop, and then produced at Open Hydrant Theater Company in March, 2014.
Gina participated in the 36-Hour Play Festival Celebrating Women Artists at Urban Stages in March of 2015, where she wrote the short play, Troll Doll's Big Day.
She is a core member of The Hess Collective, a former member of Open Hydrant Theater Company and a former literary committee member at the off-Broadway house Urban Stages.
Plays + Performance
*Instructor in screenwriting, playwriting, and solo performance for adults at The Writers Rock.
*Artistic director of Cirque d'Ete at Park Slope Day Camp - a summer circus and performing arts camp for elementary school students.
*Writing coordinator for Tribeca Performing Arts Center's Writers in Performance Workshop.
*Creative writing instructor at Writopia Lab, an afterschool creative writing program for elementary, middle, and high-school students.
*Teaching artist in partnership with Carnegie Hall's Somewhere Project, a citywide exploration of West Side Story for community arts organizations.
*Creator of the Indian Arts Workshop, an educational outreach program presented through the off-Broadway theater Urban Stages, which she performs at libraries throughout New York City.
*Teaching Assistant in undergraduate acting at Barnard College.
*Artistic director of Cirque d'Ete at Park Slope Day Camp - a summer circus and performing arts camp for elementary school students.
*Writing coordinator for Tribeca Performing Arts Center's Writers in Performance Workshop.
*Creative writing instructor at Writopia Lab, an afterschool creative writing program for elementary, middle, and high-school students.
*Teaching artist in partnership with Carnegie Hall's Somewhere Project, a citywide exploration of West Side Story for community arts organizations.
*Creator of the Indian Arts Workshop, an educational outreach program presented through the off-Broadway theater Urban Stages, which she performs at libraries throughout New York City.
*Teaching Assistant in undergraduate acting at Barnard College.
Teaching Experience
Playwriting Résumé
Production History
Book of Esther (full-length play)
o Top Ten Finalist, Jewish Playwriting Contest (2017)
o Workshop production, KNOW Theatre, Binghamton NY, sponsored by the local JCC (August 2016)
o Semi-Finalist, Princess Grace Playwriting Award (2016)
My Name is Waitress (one-act play for one woman)
10Fest: New Plays by MFA Playwrights, Schapiro Theater, Columbia University (March 2016)
Welcome Home (one-act play)
Collaboration Performance under the guidance of Anne Bogart, Schapiro Theater,
Columbia University (February 2016)
This Ability (one-act play)
“As Performance” series at NYU Steinhardt Drama Therapy program
(February 2016)
Troll Doll’s Big Day (ten-minute play)
36 Hour Play Festival Celebrating Female Artists, Urban Stages (off-Broadway)
(March 2015)
Countdown (one-act play)
The Point’s Spring Short Play Festival (March 2014)
The Time Crawlers Save The World (full-length play)
o Grand prize winner, Manhattan Repertory Theatre’s Play Competition (March 2012)
o Looking Glass Theatre, space grant recipient (May 2012)
o NYU Independent Project, Experimental Theatre Wing (May 2011)
Awards & Memberships
• Playwriting Scholarship: 2015-2017 Columbia University
• Writing Coordinator: Tribeca Performing Arts Center’s Writers in Performance Workshop (2015-present)
• Core Member of The Hess Collective Theater Company
• Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild of America
Education
• MFA Playwriting Candidate, Columbia University (led by David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, Chuck Mee)
• BFA Drama, NYU Tisch School of the Arts (graduated May 2011)
Book of Esther (full-length play)
o Top Ten Finalist, Jewish Playwriting Contest (2017)
o Workshop production, KNOW Theatre, Binghamton NY, sponsored by the local JCC (August 2016)
o Semi-Finalist, Princess Grace Playwriting Award (2016)
My Name is Waitress (one-act play for one woman)
10Fest: New Plays by MFA Playwrights, Schapiro Theater, Columbia University (March 2016)
Welcome Home (one-act play)
Collaboration Performance under the guidance of Anne Bogart, Schapiro Theater,
Columbia University (February 2016)
This Ability (one-act play)
“As Performance” series at NYU Steinhardt Drama Therapy program
(February 2016)
Troll Doll’s Big Day (ten-minute play)
36 Hour Play Festival Celebrating Female Artists, Urban Stages (off-Broadway)
(March 2015)
Countdown (one-act play)
The Point’s Spring Short Play Festival (March 2014)
The Time Crawlers Save The World (full-length play)
o Grand prize winner, Manhattan Repertory Theatre’s Play Competition (March 2012)
o Looking Glass Theatre, space grant recipient (May 2012)
o NYU Independent Project, Experimental Theatre Wing (May 2011)
Awards & Memberships
• Playwriting Scholarship: 2015-2017 Columbia University
• Writing Coordinator: Tribeca Performing Arts Center’s Writers in Performance Workshop (2015-present)
• Core Member of The Hess Collective Theater Company
• Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild of America
Education
• MFA Playwriting Candidate, Columbia University (led by David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, Chuck Mee)
• BFA Drama, NYU Tisch School of the Arts (graduated May 2011)