As one of Jobsite Theater´s favorite performers, Stevenson has had ample time to impress herself upon area audiences. What those audiences have discovered, to their delight, is a seemingly fearless actress prepared to transform herself into whatever a script or a director requires. This willingness could be glimpsed in two of her Jobsite appearances last season, in A Girl´s Guide to Chaos and Delusion of Darkness. But it was Paula Vogel´s The Mineola Twins that really gave Stevenson the opportunity to show her stuff. Playing comic twin sisters, one radical, one conservative, Stevenson convinced us not only of each sibling´s individuality, but made their evolution over time credible and resonant. So conservative Myrna first came to us as a high school girl committed to maintaining her virginity, then turned into a married woman getting out the vote for Nixon, and finally appeared as a conservative radio talk show host sidelighting as an abortion-clinic bomber. And here was Myra, the promiscuous beatnik-wannabe, then a revolutionary bank robber, and finally a lesbian working for Planned Parenthood. Not only did Stevenson manage these changes successfully, she also appeared to be having a wonderful time doing so. No wonder she´s one of the area´s most dependable, popular and unpredictable thespians.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.
