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L Stevens (they/them) is a Brooklyn based new works director. On November 7th, 2026, they are directing a reading of apocalyptic sexploitation play CRETINS at Cloud City in Williamsburg. They make theater that plays with form to tell stories about difficult, flawed people negotiating their place in absurd and outlandish worlds. Their practice is largely defined by close collaborations with exciting generative artists who aren't limited by formal boundaries and stylistic conventions. In 2025 I established DIY performance collective [[SCHNEEBLEHORSE]], so that I could better provide artistic and production support to my friends with whom I build puppets and devise performance. My close collaborations with playwright George Corrin include the absurdist comic thriller [[Bananas]], as well as developmental readings of apocalyptic sexploitation play [[CRETINS]] and surreal fantasy soap opera Sodium Vapor. Composer Hannah Cai Sobel and I founded experimental opera group<a href="https://www.hannahcaisobel.com/granite-planet/" target="_blank"> Granite Planet</a> in 2024, seven years after we met on the Appalachian Trail. They received a Bachelors in Theater from Reed College in 2023. Their [[undergraduate thesis|Blue Heart]] juxtaposed the works of Mary Shelley and Caryl Churchill. Some press highlights: [[“genuinely courageous”|Great White]]; [[“unapologetically loud”|Lizzie]]; [[“altogether transformative”|Great White]]; [[“like a particularly poignant Sesame Street bumper”|SCHNEEBLEHORSE]]; [[“saying erotic falls short.”|Great White]] You can get in touch with them using @itslstevens or schneeblehorse@gmail.com.

SCHNEEBLEHORSE is a performance collective that extends the human body using DIY puppets to tell poignant, personal, and ultimately silly stories. We utilize childlike aesthetics to investigate the private, personal worlds we create for ourselves. Co-founders L Stevens and Annabelle Stern construct odd creations from cardboard, paper mache, and trash, which become the centerpiece of a complex and unusual movement-based performance. Company members: L Stevens, Annabelle Stern, Harper Lethin, Aaron Berlau, Susannah Yezzi. Work: House Party A short performance about a woman who really should get out more. Presented at Brick Aux in the Fall 2026 Mixed Bag showcase. Petra and the Bugs, an devised adaptation of Peter and the Wolf featuring the native insects of the Columbia River Valley. Presented for free in Portland's Laurelhurst Park. In development: POODS: a poodle musical GET OUT OF MY HEAD! A love story between a fisherman and a fish

Lizzie Written by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner, and Alan Stevens Hewitt Directed by L Stevens Produced by VanS Entertainment Chapel Theater, September 20-29, 2024 A "<a href="https://www.broadwayworld.com/portland/article/Review-LIZZIE-THE-MUSICAL-at-Chapel-Theater-20240924">gripping exploration of violence, repression, trauma, and rage</a>," Lizzie tells the real story of the women behind the infamous Borden murders. A punk musical in two acts. Press: "Not just a killer rock musical, but also a surprisingly fitting show for our times...unapolagetically loud and raucous...fantastic, intense, gritty performances...this production nails it." Nominated for 8 BroadwayWorld Portland awards, including BEST MUSICAL and BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

Great White Gets Off By Ajai Tripathi Directed by Rusty Tennant with Associate Director L Stevens December 2023 <img src="gwgo-poster.png" width="80%" margin="auto"/> When Great White meets Snakecharmer on a hookup app, they're just looking to get off. Through sexual role play they explore whether two gay men can find a connection while navigating shifting power dynamics, racial resentments, and the ongoing influence of colonialism. Featuring Ajai Tripathi and Pat Hilton. Great White Gives it Up By Ajai Tripathi Directed by Rusty Tennant and L Stevens March 2024 <img src="gwgiu-poster.png" width="80%" margin="auto"/> A follow-up to Tripathi's Great White Gets Off, this stand-alone play follows Sandeep and Bert in the next part of their journey, discovering whether love across cultures can really last on a romantic trip to Ireland. Featuring Ajai Tripathi and Pat Hilton. Press: Jae Carlsson, PDXBackstage: "Ajai Tripathi’s funny, darkly uncomfortable two-character play utilizes fetishistic role-play games (a prelude to sex) as means to baldly investigate interracial prejudice, queer guilt, etc, and – through it – to seek a kind of mutual atonement for the deep gender and colonial prejudices which still haunt our social fabric." Both plays were listed on Carlsson's PDX's Trailblazing Theatrical Works of their respective year. The two plays were nominated for a combined 5 BroadwayWorld Portland awards, including BEST PLAY for Gets Off and BEST DIRECTION for Gives it Up.

Bananas By George Corrin Directed by L Stevens Bananas follows two aspiring artists who share a garden-level apartment in the city. When the local news reports on a bizarre murder, one of them reveals that their current project is a series of durational killings. Instead of confronting this vicious creation, the two intellectualize, ignore, and argue. But when a “work-in-progress” shows up at their door, no amount of detachment can save them from playing a role in her triple act. Bananas incorporates a variety of theatrical modes to explore how we create art, and what we do when someone we love very much does something very bad. Bananas premired at The Rat in November 2025, and featured Dot Davis, Reece Borden, and Susannah Yezzi. The production was remounted at The Tank in July 2026, with Aaron Berlau replacing Reece Borden.

Vengeful, selfish, and cruel, The Cretins are on a quest to destroy everything straight culture holds dear—law, order, babies, and the American myth. Worshipping at the altar of sex and violence, the Cretins might not offer a better alternative, but they do offer a more truthful one. A new play by George Corrin that uses disidentification, drag, and excess to resurrect and reclaim queer villains from 60s, 70s, and 80s exploitation and genre films. A workshop reading was presented on April 12, 2026 as a part of the Fertile Ground new works festival. The play was read at the High Water Mark lounge and featured Lauren Trask, Flinch Read, R.L. Routh, Faith Roche, and Zeke Aszman. The reading was directed by L Stevens, with stage directions read by the playwright. A new draft will be read at 2pm and 7pm on November 7th, 2026, at Cloud City in Williamsburg. Tickets on sale soon. Portland Mercury: "Part live John Waters film, part road warrior exploitation story" "[F]lying in the face of the Trump administration’s oppression with a campy, no holds barred... 90-minute ride of empowered violence as killer queers on motorbikes go looking to vent their barely-bridled rage" BroadwayWorld Portland: "a unique blend of horror and comedy with a queer narrative"

Blue Heart By Caryl Churchill Directed by L Stevens Derek (if that is his real name) is an undead creature, wandering the waking world after being exiled from the laboratory he was raised in. He haunts the living by convincing them he's their dead, abandoned relatives come back to life, but can any of them ever really find peace? A recombination of Caryl Churchill's one-acts Heart's Desire and Blue Kettle using Shelley's Frankenstein as a lens to examine the texts. Presented as a part of my undergraduate thesis at Reed College.