BIO

Thomas Murray is an ethnodramatist, director, and teacher. He co-directs Storycatchers Theatre’s ensemble at the Illinois Youth Center-Warrenville, where he collaborates with incarcerated youth to transform their life stories into works of musical theatre. He is also the founding executive director of Waltzing Mechanics, a documentary performance ensemble based in Chicago with members nationwide.

At times, Thomas has been labeled “that guy who makes docudramas about transportation.” Indeed, his interview-based works for Waltzing Mechanics include The Right of Way (about the death of a bicyclist on Chicago’s West Side), Over My Dead Body (about disinterring a cemetery from the center of O’Hare International Airport to clear space for a new runway), and EL Stories (about the daily commuters aboard CTA trains and buses). His Term 3 project for The Midwives was a multimedia memoir performance about the six years he spent working at American Airlines and his enduring aviation geekdom. Thomas’ interdisciplinary collaborators have included urban planners, landscape architects, policy makers, lawyers, pastors, pilots, motormen, and morticians. His script for The Right of Way was published in ArtsPraxis by New York University.

Beyond his native Chicago, Thomas’ regional credits include work in Atlanta, Boston, Indianapolis, New Orleans, New York, and Washington D.C.

Thomas is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. He has been honored with fellowships by Ping Chong + Company and the National Academy of Sciences, an artistic apprenticeship with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from Ball State University. He holds a B.A. in theatre production from Ball State University and an M.F.A. in directing and public dialogue from Virginia Tech.

INSPIRED BY

City lights — Takeoff rolls — Anna Deavere Smith — The Art of Gathering — The Great Lakes — Dwight Conquergood — Public transportation — Jon Ronson — Verbatim text — Choral music — My husband