_ The first play Oren Stevens directed was a semi-improvised tea party, starring himself and his siblings and abruptly truncated by their nine o’clock bedtime. Uncontrollably drawn to the theater, he acted in numerous shows (both professionally and with youth companies) from the time he was six, well into high school.

Oren has always maintained that to work in the theater it is essential to have an understanding and respect for the work of every artist, and in high school he began taking on roles beyond acting: working with directors on scenic design, becoming the first student lighting designer at his school, and taking leadership roles during load-in and technical rehearsals.

Never one to sit back and wait for opportunities, Oren worked with a local theater company to create a program where he produced, wrote, and directed a play, using local high-school actors. Before being whisked off to college, he upheld this program for two years, which produced the world premieres of Through a Glass, Darkly (which later became Phantomwise); and Esdras: Perished, Erred, and Sinned.

As an undergrad at Yale University, Oren continued to explore, rigorously, every aspect of the theater. Beyond his continued directing and writing (both with the Yale Dramatic Association and independently), he produced a Mainstage production, and worked as a scenic and lighting designer and a master electrician.

His directing and writing work draws on his experience working as an actor, designer, technician, producer and, of course, an audience member, to create plays that draw on all aspects of what theater is capable of; he strives to fully engage everyone in the building – from the star performer, to the sound board operator, to the young lady sitting at the end of the last row who has never been to a play before. Refusing to divorce passion and intellect, his theater invites analytical thought from those who wish to give it, but still thrives in a purely emotional engagement. He ardently believes that some of the most important choices are those that the audience doesn’t realize are affecting them.

Currently Oren is the Production Coordinator for Bigger Than a Breadbox Theatre Co. in San Francisco.