It continues to mentor young directors who leave the programme fully trained in all aspects of theatre with the skill set and contacts to begin their own careers or their own companies.
Stephanie and Dan developed the Kings Head Theatre Young Directors Training Scheme which has trained countless young directors and was for many years the largest and most successful scheme in England. Her adaptation was also produced along with Bernstein’s score at the Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, California. With a costumier from Harry Potter, Gary Page, choreography by Marc Urquhart and a chamber orchestra led by the noted West End musical director Mike Dixon, Barrie’s masterpiece was restored to the dark, moving tale he had intended, an antidote to the pantomime it has become. Her own highlights during that time include adapting Peter Pan using out of print books of deleted scenes and a lost screenplay by Barrie and convincing Leonard Bernstein’s estate to allow the first ever world stage premiere of Bernstein’s brilliant early score to accompany it. Compelled to leave her film career to keep the theatre going, she applied her knowledge gained in the film industry creating theatre slates along the film model. In 2004/5 she wrote, directed and produced SILENCE BECOMES YOU (feature) with Alicia Silverstone and Sienna Guillory distributed in the US through First Look Entertainment and internationally through Sequence/ Handmade and now Moviehouse Entertainment UK.Īfter Dan’s death, she returned to the theatre as Creative Director. A MAVERICK IN LONDON was presented on SkyArts for three years and as a Channel Four special. In 2004 she wrote, produced and co-directed A MAVERICK IN LONDON, a documentary about The Kings Head Theatre and its founder, Dan Crawford, featuring Joanna Lumley, Alan Rickman, Sir Tom Stoppard, Steven Berkoff, Sir Antony Sher and many others.
It was later remastered by the British Film Institute from the 35mm print for their classic archive collection. Production Designer Peter Murton (Bond films, Lion in Winter, Dr Strangelove) was also on board and it was presented at the Art Institute of Chicago’s 7th European Film Festival. Stephanie then adapted, directed and produced THE TELL-TALE HEART, based on Poe’s short story, to continue to work with Jack Cardiff who became her mentor. She developed the story, cast and financed and learned a great deal from the luminary advisors, BAFTA and Academy Awad winners, John Box, Production Designer and John Mitchell, Sound. It told the little known story of the Hindu involvement in the WWI. Stephanie’s first film (Co-Producer) THE DANCE OF SHIVA was an Academy Award Finalist, 2000 and featured Kenneth Branagh, Sam West, Sanjeev Bhasker & Paul McGann with Academy Award-winning DoP Jack Cardiff (A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus). Here her background as an artist, storyteller and theatrical practitioner merged into her ultimate medium of expression for her world view. In the late 90’s she found the fulfilment of her vocational and career aspirations when she crossed from theatre to film. In the early 90’s she began writing and directing her own plays and musicals. Her life has been a continual creative journey with quite a few unexpected twists and turns.Īs Associate Artistic Director of the Kings Head Theatre, which she ran with her husband, founder Dan Crawford, she oversaw the creative elements of 6 theatrical productions a year from development to production–choosing the plays, dramaturgical development, casting, finance, assembling production teams and co-producing, working with playwrights such as Steven Berkoff, Tom Stoppard, and Anthony Minghella, (another theatre to film crossover). She began as painter and poet, publishing her poetry in anthologies as well as the solo volume BURNT OFFERING and attended the noted California College of Art studying Fine Art and literature. Stephanie is a filmmaker, painter and writer who has forged a diverse multi-media award-winning career in film, theatre, art and writing. Shaman‐Artist by Mandi Lynn CV (pdf format 2.8MB) (download to view)