Steven Stead

Steven holds a Drama Honours degree from UKZN, and initially pursued an acting career, appearing in dozens of plays and musicals, winning awards for acting, in Shakespeare (Hamlet and The Tempest) and comedy (The Mystery of Irma Vep). However, he has spent the greater part of the last two decades years directing. For eight years he was senior staff director at the English National Opera and directed many operas in London and elsewhere in Europe, before coming back to Durban to work with Greg King and develop KickstArt Theatre. Together they have revived the tradition of pantomime in the city, and have created some memorable drama productions: Jeeves and Wooster, The Ladykillers, Twitch, Venus in Fur, Red, The God of Carnage, Duet for One, Wit, Noises Off, Laughing Wild, Shirley Valentine, Dangerous Liaisons, Boston Marriage, Oleanna, Dracula, Popcorn, Don’t Dress for Dinner and The Road to Mecca. Musicals that they have produced include Camelot, Chicago, Into the Woods, Snoopy (in which he played the title role), The Wizard of Oz, Little Shop of Horrors, Peter Pan, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (which Steven also appeared in), Cabaret (which enjoyed a highly successful national tour), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Annie (in which he played Rooster) and Sweeney Todd which toured to Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2015 under the auspices of Pieter Toerien Productions, and won a Naledi Award for Best Musical, as well as Best Director of a Musical for Stead. Other directing credits include The Marriage of Figaro (ENO), Alcina (Oviedo and Bilbao, Spain) My Fair Lady and Bravo (Playhouse Company), Rigoletto and La Traviata (Opera Africa), and Valley Song (Cape Town Opera), I Capuleti e I Montecchi, and Cosi fan Tutte (Opera UCT/Cape Town Opera).