Christopher Morris

Christopher is a director, actor and playwright residing in Toronto. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Human Cargo, and is co-founder/co-artistic director of the Tununiq Arsarniit Theatre Group, an Inuit theatre company based in Pond Inlet, Nunavut.  Prior to initiating these companies Christopher established himself as a director, with Mary’s Wedding (Grand Theatre/London), The Bear (Preface Theatre/The Art Gallery of Ontario), I Am Yours  (Equity Showcase Theatre), Mad Forest (Guest Director -University of Toronto), The Crack Walker  (Trinity Theatre, Dublin), Salt Water Moon  (Queen’s University) and Riders to the Sea (Queen’s University). Christopher also assistant directed Medea (Sardapi Theatre, Republic of Georgia) and Vote (Theatre for Change, Azerbaijan).

In September/2007 Christopher launched Human Cargo, a multi-disciplinary theatre company based in Toronto that uses the creation of new works as a means to expose and discuss social and political issues. Through cross-cultural exchange and professional mentorship, it offers Canadian and international performance artists, and youth, a creative environment where they’ll be inspired to express themselves by transforming their life experiences into theatrical language. Human Cargo’s vision is to spark an innovative theatrical/cultural/social movement that inspires audiences to re-evaluate their personal and global perspectives of the human condition.

 As a professional actor he has worked with Soulpepper, the Tarragon Theatre, Necessary Angel, Theatre Passe Muraille, the Blyth Festival, Young People’s Theatre, Canadian Stage, The Grand Theatre (London and Kingston), Shakespeare Works, Resurgence Theatre, Theatrefront, the Thousand Islands Playhouse, and Halifax’s Shakespeare by the Sea, to name a few. He is a founding member of the Toronto based, award winning company Theatrefront. With Theatrefront he spearheaded Return: The Sarajevo Project, a theatre creation between Bosnian and Canadian Theatre artists (which was nominated for five Dora Mavor Moore Awards). His international work as an actor has brought him to Ireland, France, Bosnia, South Africa, the Republic of Georgia, and Iceland.

 Christopher studied directing at Queen’s University and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with a BAH in Theatre/Literature and a Bachelor of Education. While directing I am Yours at Equity Showcase in 2003, Christopher was mentored by Daniel Brooks. In 2005 Christopher received funding from Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program to complete an eleven-week director mentorship in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia with the award-winning Georgian director Gocha Kapanadze. During this time he also trained with Caryne Chapman-Clarke and Theatre for Change in Baku, Azerbaijan. Christopher is the recipient of the 2005 K.M Hunter Award for Theatre, was for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in 2006 as a playwright for Return: The Sarajevo Project and was nominated for the 2008 John Hirsch Award.