Christopher Murrah is a director of theatre and opera whose work spans classical repertoire, new play development, and interdisciplinary collaboration. They are currently the Associate Chair of Acting at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where they bring their passion for ensemble-driven work and creative mentorship to the next generation of performers.
A 2014 recipient of the Princess Grace Theater Award Honorarium and a Shubert Foundation Fellow through Columbia University, Christopher’s international credits include La Traviata at the Mariinsky Opera House in St. Petersburg, Tristan und Isolde in Rijeka, and Suor Angelica in Oslo. They have directed and choreographed productions across genres, including Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods, Pericles, The Crucible, and The Three Sisters, as well as new works by Michael Lluberes, Tingying Ma, Tabia Lau, and Daaimah Mubashshir.
Christopher previously served on the faculty of Yale University’s School of Music from 2016 to 2021, and has taught at NYU and universities nationwide. They are also the owner and director of Ghostlight Theater Camp, where they cultivate a creative home for young artists each summer.
Their recent work includes a deep collaboration with the Grammy-winning ensemble 8th Blackbird, including the premiere of Composition as Explanation by David Lang, directed with Anne Bogart, and their role as Director of Creative Collaboration at 8BB’s Creative Lab at the Yerkes Observatory. They also worked closely with the now-retired SITI Company on their final works, including the theater is a blank page, performed at the Wexner Center and UCLA.
Christopher holds an MFA in Directing from Columbia University and is a member of SDC and AEA.
Available Workshops
Viewpoints & SUZUKI Training
Mary Overlie’s Viewpoint work deeply influenced Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. I continue to teach an evolving form of Viewpoints, inspired, informed and rooted in Overlie’s and SITI’s work. The world-renowned director Tadashi Suzuki was instrumental in the founding of SITI Company and continues to support SITI’s work and teaching of the Suzuki Method, which seeks to heighten the actor’s emotional and physical power and commitment to each moment on the stage.
Workshops can introduce students to both trainings, or to one in particular, and can be crafted to cover single-day through multi-week schedules.
Musical Theater Practice
From preparation to song selection to audition to rehearsal. Workshops can be crafted to focus on entire process of the musical theatre artist or one element of the journey.
I work to unpack the negative and detrimental tropes that often surround performance for young actors, focusing on highlighting their individual points of view and holistic presence in audition and rehearsal rooms. We speak of how their relationship to the audience remains an integral part of their performance, as much as their relationship to the material or scene partner. In doing so, students leave confident in their ability to craft a theatrical performance, whether 16-bars or 2-acts.
DEVISING Theatrical Works
This course explores the practices of devising theater experiences by connecting to broader social and cultural topics, as well as methods of devising from various theatre companies with whom I have worked closely.
Participants will enhance their physical, emotional, imaginative, and cognitive playfulness in order to be well-equipped for the journey of articulating, shaping, and presenting their artistic visions. This exploration will allow participants to develop a better insight into what kind of theater and performance they are passionate about in order to create their own work while breaking the boundaries of existing forms.