You For Me For You
Crowded Fire, 2017
“She encounters many white women, all named Liz and all played by the marvelously funny Elissa Beth Stebbins. The first Liz speaks in a fast slur of non-words, totally unintelligible to show that the new Korean immigrant cannot understand English. Time passes and the next Liz mixes in a few recognizable words as the immigrating sister understands more English. And so on, until her final mastery of English. Each time Stebbins plays a Liz, no matter how disparate from the previous ones, she is completely believable. Chung’s concept and Stebbins’ performance are a joy.” – Kim Waldron, Theatrius
“In New York, Junhee encounters many different women – hospital patients, fellow workers from the ICU, a therapist, the hospital HR rep – and they’re all played by Elissa Beth Stebbins, who conquers the daunting task of having to speak the garbled English that Junhee hears when she first arrives. As her time in the U.S. progresses, we understand more and more of the English, but, happily, Stebbins’ performances just keep getting brighter and funnier and more pointed.” – Chad Jones, TheaterDogs
“In particular, Stebbins is a wunderkind, playing the variety of white women all named Liz who make up Junhee’s world in New York. Her lines go from mostly gibberish to mostly English, tracking Junhee’s gradual understanding of her new language. Yet Stebbins delivers each garbled phrase with such clear intention that you go for lines on end convinced that you understood her.” – Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle
“Elissa Beth Stebbins is award-deserving for her several cameo appearances. Her speech is first heard by Junhee as a jumble-mumble of nonsensical syllables, later as a mix of words arranged in an order not making sense (and punctuated by more nonsense sounds), and increasingly with each new role finally progressing to full, understandable speech. Her performance is perhaps the best example of what it must be like to arrive not knowing a language and immediately thrust into daily motions of shopping, working on a first job, and trying to discover the norms of a new culture.” – Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
“The unexpected stars of this play are the two actors playing most of the ensemble roles, Jomar Tagatac and Elissa Beth Stebbins.” – Alexandra Garfield, Theater by the Bay
Caught
Shotgun Players, 2016
“Also exquisite are Mike Mize and Elissa Stebbins, as editor and writer, respectively, at the New Yorker, who give what might be the truest portrait of white tears yet seen on an American stage: a tantrum that explodes only within a couple of inches of its sufferer, and Victorian lady-style wooziness.” – Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle
” Elissa Stebbins plays an editor of The New Yorker and Mick Mize plays a hard-hitting American journalist. Both are excellent in their roles…The acting of El Beh as Jean and Elissa Stebbins as the curator are not to be faulted; they are terrific in their roles.” – Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
“It’s hard to talk about performances when you can’t always be sure performances are actually happening – at least in the traditional sense anyway – but Martin’s cast, which includes Jomar Tagatac, Elissa Stebbins, Mick Mize and El Beh/Michelle Talgarow (depending on which night you “experience” it), makes what could be a fuzzy evening all the clearer with their sharp, energetic work.” – Chad Jones, TheaterDogs
The Village Bike
Shotgun Players, 2016
“The actors abandon themselves to pure feeling, no matter how ugly. After the first hour, I gave into their crazy energy, and by the second, they had me floating alongside Skinner’s wild rhythms and U-turns. If you have to choose between acting that’s technically perfect and acting that makes you pay attention, well, I know my choice.
As Becky, Stebbins is masterful at playing the moment. The actress seems to have no idea where she’s going, as if she forgot the ending of the play. Watch her at the end of her scenes. She looks disoriented, as if someone just punched her hard in the face. You feel not only that the play matters to this talented actress, but also that it’s changing her as she performs it.” – John Wilkins, KQED
“Elissa Stebbins inhabits Becky’s tremulous despair with abandon. On the page, her actions are uniformly selfish: Becky is unlikable. What Stebbins does is interesting; she doesn’t make her sympathetic. The actress provides the character with an internal refrain, “Is That All There Is?”. The song is playing on a loop inside her mind. When Becky is quiet on stage, the audience can almost hear it. The shock of recognizing her internal world as our own brings the audience in closer to the performance.” – Jeffrey Edalatpour, SF Weekly
“Elissa Stebbins’ portrayal of Becky conveys a full understanding of what’s taking place in this marriage and resulting state of desperation. .” – Mark Rudio, A Beast in the Jungle
“Her condition not yet visible, Becky (an increasingly uneasy Elissa Stebbins) is feeling randy, and husband John (Nick Medina as an amusingly oblivious milquetoast) is always making excuses instead of making love…And indeed, the “Village Bike” cast is so strong that you’ll almost certainly want to come back and see them again in other plays.” – Sam Hurwitt, San Jose Mercury News
“The actors are mostly fine, but it doesn’t matter.” – Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
“The performances are consistently sharp...” – Leo Stutzin, Huffington Post
“Elissa Stebbins is terrific, with a spot-on British midland accent as the sex-crazy Becky. There is an air of unabridged naturalness about her acting that is wonderful.” – Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
“The lead actors, Elissa Stebbins, Nick Medina and Kevin Clarke bring much talent and freshness to their roles. As Becky, Elissa Stebbins succeeds well in a particularly difficult part. And she is on stage for most all of the production.” – Emily S. Mendel, Berkeleyside
“Elissa Stebbins breaks wide open many societal boundaries of what a pregnant woman ‘should’ be in her gutsy, lusty, and often funny portrayal of Becky.” – Theatre Eddys
The Rover
Shotgun Players, 2015
“Loyally serving [Angelica Bianca] is the hilarious Moretta, a pipsqueak, bent-over maid who guards like a hawk both Angelica and her potentiality for high payoffs. Elissa Beth Stebbins surprises more than one audience member in the curtain call when there are realizations that she somehow changed multiple times both costume and persona to play a super-sexy, dangerously devious prostitute, Lucetta.” – Eddie Reynolds, Talkin’ Broadway
Compleat Female Stage Beauty
New Conservatory Theatre Center, 2015
“As Mrs. Hughes, Elissa Beth Stebbins lets us watch the amazing but believable metamorphosis from a silly-acting, unsure neophyte into a more refrained and refined actress – all under the direction and tutelage of her still-mentor, Kynaston.” – Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys
Antigone
Cutting Ball Theatre, 2015
“There are some sharply performed scenes, including… Elissa Beth Stebbins who is a vital presence leading the Chorus…” – Robert Hurwitt, SFGate
“The finest moments belong to Elissa Beth Stebbins’ indelible Chorus Lead, Hannah Donovan’s tender Ismene, and Paul Loper’s articulate Tiresias.” – Georgia Rowe, The Examiner
Pride and Prejudice
Livermore Shakespeare Festival, 2014
“Adapted by Christina Calvit, of Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre, and directed by Virginia Reed, the story is moved speedily along through pieces of narration, with protagonist Elizabeth Bennet (lively portrayed by a perfectly cast Elissa Beth Stebbins) addressing the audience directly—at one point even retreating from the stage to join us.” – Leanne Jones, Diablo Magazine
Peter/Wendy
Custom Made Theater, 2013
“Elissa Beth Stebbins plays a confident Wendy, sweetly flirtatious at the start and engaged in the wonder of Neverland, but occasionally too knowing and removed from the adventure.” – Robert Sokol, The Examiner
What Every Girl Should Know
Impact Theatre, 2013
“Bega, Edber, Pollack and especially Stebbins give powerful performances that only grow in intensity throughout the play’s 100 minutes.” – Chad Jones, TheaterDogs
“All four of the cast members are remarkable, creating memorable and believable characters…” – Pat Craig, San Jose Mercury News
“Bega, Edber, Pollack and Stebbins work together fantastically. The acting is so well-balanced… “- Michelle Lin, The Daily Californian
Birds of a Feather
New Conservatory Theatre Center, 2013
“Four fine actors play multiple (25+??) roles and change swiftly in and out of costumes changing their demeanor to fit that specific character…Elissa Beth Stebbins as the Zookeeper and Paula Zane give the most professional performance without infringing on the actions of her fellow thespians.” – Kedar K. Adour, MD For All Events
“Elissa Beth Stebbins is engaging playing TV celebrity Paula Zahn especially in one hilarious scene…She also nicely portrays the Zookeeper.” – Richard Connema, For All Events
“A romantic subplot involving Christopher Morrel as a shy birder and Elissa Beth Stebbins as a somewhat nerdish Zookeeper is also engaging.” – Charles Kruger, Examiner.com, TheatreStorm
In the Next Room (or, the Vibrator Play)
City Lights Theatre, 2012
“...there’s an emotional nakedness and genuine spontaneity to this “Vibrator” play that’s truly stimulating.” – Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News
“[Ruhl’s] characters aren’t stuffy puritans, but in an age of great strides in science and medicine, they are still ignorant of the most basic human functions. They crave intimacy, but don’t know how to get it. This is shown…most of all in Elissa Beth Stebbins’ superb portrayal of Mrs. Givings, which brings great emotional depth to the character’s desire for romance with her distant, clinically minded husband, and her anguish at being unable to feed her child, having instead to hire a wet nurse…” – Sean Conwell, SanJose.com
“This play is provocative and engaging in a way that few are…the cast decisively engages the audience…Bracco and Stebbins have some hearty exchanges that, even in the formal language used, have a strong impact. Stebbins’ character suffers visibly as she tries hard to find a way to connect with Dr. Givings.” – Ande Jacobson, A Good Reed Review
“Elissa Beth Stebbins evinces a comedic melancholy that is an uncanny display of acting skill.” – Gregory M. Alonzo, StarkInsider.com