Ursula Sturgeon

Ursula Sturgeon is a recent graduate of Metea Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois. There she wrote and directed two plays for the school’s annual student-directed “Winter Scenes” program: “Don Juan” in 2020 and “The Misadventures of Gretel Grimm” in 2021. An avid opera fan since she was very young, Ursula commonly draws from operas as inspiration for her work. “Don Juan” served as a love letter to Mozart’s Don Giovanni, while “Gretel Grimm” borrowed elements from multiple operas.

In addition to her passion for theatre, Ursula also carries an intense passion for writing. In her senior year of high school, Ursula was a Perspectives Reporter and Copy Editor for Metea Media, Metea Valley High School’s news website. She was also the recipient of the English Department Outstanding Senior award for the Class of 2021, which distinguished her academic and extracurricular excellence in literary pursuits. In addition, she has also been awarded the 2020 VSA Discovery Playwright award from the Kennedy Center for her script “Wrong Planet.”

Since 2016, in her spare time, Ursula writes and illustrates Ensemble, a webcomic based on Mozart’s most famous operas.