The Feminine Gaze. A season where women run the show. It’s time.

​For the 2027 season, I’m opening the door a little wider - and entirely from the feminine gaze ♥️

I’ve always welcomed ideas, but I’ve also been very intentional in shaping each season. This year, I’m inviting something more collaborative.
2027 will be a celebration of women: all female directors, and a season of plays written by female playwrights. Not as a gesture, but as a full, unapologetic spotlight on the depth, intelligence, humor, and originality of women’s voices.
There is an extraordinary wealth of female talent in this community. It’s time to center it.

If you’re a female artist in Ventura County, I want to hear from you - what plays by women feel essential right now? What work has stayed with you, challenged you, or quietly refused to let go? What have you been waiting for the chance to direct?
As you’re thinking, keep Santa Paula Theater Center in mind. We tend to avoid plays that are frequently produced nearby and are drawn to work that feels fresh, specific, and a little unexpected. We love the occasional classic, but only when there’s a reason to revisit it now. We’re not interested in being a typical community theater.

Send me the plays you believe in.
I’ll still be shaping the final season - but it feels necessary to widen the lens, to listen more closely, and to let this season be informed by the collective intelligence of the women creating in this community.

​It feels like the right moment to build something that is not only meaningful, but unmistakably ours. 


We love ya, fellas.
But in 2027- women are running the show.

Jessi May Stevenson 
Artistic Director 
Santa Paula Theater Center ​