Chris Gilly-Forrer

Chris

Gilly-Forrer

Director

and

Educator

About Me

I direct because I have seen firsthand the potential for theatre to transform lives through the exposure to new ideas, viewpoints, and cultures.

Whether a contemporary setting of Shakespeare that illuminates our current socio-political conditions, a golden age musical that encourages us to band together in difficult times, or anything in-between, the empathetic connections we build within our audiences can rewrite the cultural fabric of our communities both big and small.

Bio

Chris Gilly-Forrer (he/him) is a director, actor, and educator from the Pacific Northwest. He received his BA in Theatre Arts from Linfield University, a comprehensive degree program. After making the decision to specialize in directing, Chris served as the Directing Intern at PCPA—Pacific Conservatory Theatre before receiving an MFA in Directing from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

As an educator, Chris has taught artists of all ages in such places as Alaska, Utah, Oregon, California, and North Carolina. He stresses the importance of process over product and hopes students leave his classroom emboldened to become change-makers during this transitional period for the American theatre.

Favorite directing credits include Macbeth (Penguin Productions), Romeo & Juliet (Central Coast Shakespeare), Peter & the Starcatcher, and the world-premiere of The Julies (UNCG), a co-direction with Iyanna Huffington.

RESUME

DIRECTING (click to view)

TEACHING (click to view)

Interviews

The project was posed as an experiment: not one but two directors for the world-premiere performance of "The Julies" by Calley N. Anderson in order to ensure that the students of color in the School of Theatre could be best served in their artistic and pedagogical needs. Iyanna Huffington and Chris Gilly-Forrer describe their navigation of this process, the institutional support systems and roadblocks, and the impact on the acting company and their final presentation before ultimately challenging the long-standing notion of "director-as-captain" and offering possible solutions to more equitable models for theatrical direction.

"JIM, 18 years old--played by 5 men. TILLY, 18 years old--played by 5 women." So reads the character description for "Incognito," a one-act play written by UNCG professor Janet Allard. With the playwright's blessing, directing this play offered an opportunity to employ color- and gender-conscious casting practices to assemble a diverse cast that represents the student body at the UNCG School of Theatre and also to reject the socially constructed categories of "race" and "gender" as they are applied in the American theatre. Created for the 2021 UNC Greensboro Graduate School Showcase of Scholarship Faculty advisor for this project was Professor John Gulley

World Premiere

The Julies: A Kinda Sorta Adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie by Callie Anderson

UNCG, 2021