A graduate of the Russian Academy of Dramatic Arts (GITIS) in Moscow, Mr. Stepnov has been working for the theatre over 30 years as director and playwright. Mr. Stepnov came to the United States in 1995 as a guest teacher and director at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

​

In 1997 Stepnov moved to New York City and founded the Steps Theatre Production Company. Beginning with its very first production, the company has been working with actors of different nationalities and theatre schools, producing plays in English, Russian and Spanish.

​

Stepnov's directing credits include pieces by Chekhov, Shakespeare, Pirandello, Byron, Pushkin, Cortazar, Vampilov, Albee, Singer and others. His productions were presented to the audiences in US, Latin America, Eastern Europe, New Zealand and Russia.

​

Production of "Cain" was selected by "OOBR Review" magazine as the best production of November 2000 in New York City Slava's works were critically acclaimed by Daily News, The Village Voice, OOBR Review Magazine, The Jewish Week, Show Business Weekly, Noticias Del Mundo, El Comercio, Novoe Russkoe Slovo, Metro, Forward, Dominion Post, Equity Magazine (Australia).

​

Slava is visiting professor of Britanico Theatre School (Lima, Peru), Wellington School of Dramatic Art (Wellington, New Zealand) and Annual International Theatre Workshop in NYC. He is the author of plays and essays about the practice and the history of the theatre.

​

American critics have called Stepnov's style "movie-esque" and one of his productions a "unique directorial gem". Russian critics referred to him as a "genuine artistic whose choices in a process of searching for forms and expressions are always surprising", and concluded that Stepnov might find himself in the company of such masters as Barishnikov, Nuriev and Brodsky.