Stella Zuri
Stella Zuri has a reputation for playing smart, surly and somewhat mercurial female characters. One of her most memorable was that of the acerbic Daphna in Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews (for Lab Theater). Another was the brutally judgmental Eva in Robert Caisley’s Happy (also for Lab).
Zuri’s other acting credits include Myrtle Mae in Mary Chase’s Harvey, Cassie Cooper in Neil Simon’s Rumors, Anne in La Cage aux Folles, Lucy in Mr. Marmalade, Amelia, Helen, Waitress 3 and Kim in Bob: A Life in Five Acts, Patsy in The Rimers of Eldrich, Desdemona in Othello, Candy Starr in One Flew Over 
the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ophelia in Hamlet, Belinda Cratchit and the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol, Nina and Hildy in Relatively Speaking, Katherine in Taming of the Shrew and Hecate in Macbeth. Stella also portrayed serial killer Monique Avril in the 2012 indie film Redemption.
Zuri is also known for dramatic appearances in the site-specific, experimental and sometimes guerrilla theater productions of Ghostbird Theatre Company. Her latest role was in Ghostbird’s 2018-2019 season opener, Windowstories, performed in the storefront window of The Franklin Shops on First to celebrate the 
10th anniversary of Fort Myers Art Walk. Other stand-out roles include Mo’a in ORBS!, medium Pearl Curran in Writing Shadows and Antigone in Antigonick.
Stella has also distinguished herself as a director. She directed a limited engagement of Zalman Velvel’s 55 and Over, and people familiar with Lab Theater recognize her as the organizer extraordinaire of The Lab’s annual 24-Hour Playwriting Challenge.
Stella also knows the boards as a stage manager, 
having functioned in that capacity in Amadeus, Five Kinds of Silence, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Extremities and Because Beauty Must Be Broken Daily.
A playwright, Zuri has written four full-length and several one-act plays. She was also a co-author of Lab Theater’s groundbreaking Rauschenberg Project Play, which gave Southwest Florida audiences a glimpse into the challenges faced on a daily basis by teenaged and young adult members of our local LGBTQ community.
Because of her keen mind 
and analytic abilities, she is often invited by Eric Raddatz and Melissa DeHaven to serve as a guest celebrity at T.G.I.M. screenings, where she invariably offers insightful observations that draw upon her extensive film and theatrical experiences.
She will next appear in Ghostbird Theatre Company’s production of Samuel Beckett’s Breath, Not I.
October 4, 2019.
For more on Stella Ruiz, follow these links:
- Stella Ruiz plays Mo’a in Ghostbird’s ‘ORBS!’
- Stella Ruiz stars as medium Pearl Curran in ‘Writing Shadows’
- Spotlight on ’55 and Over’ director Stella Ruiz
- Stella Ruiz turns in command performance as Daphna in Lab Theater’s ‘Bad Jews’
- Actor/director Stella Zuri joins Sept. 4 T.G.I.M. celebrity judge panel
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.