Roger Ellis | Director

Roger Ellis is a director of daring and physically-driven plays and musicals. Recent projects include the docu-musical Happy Songs About Unhappy Things (co-director), Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 at Writers Theatre (associate director), and the documentary Emergency/Contact (director).

Roger directed Nikki Lynette’s afrogoth musical Get Out Alive (Steppenwolf, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, film adaptation) and Timothy David Rey's play ZIP! (Poetry Foundation). Roger’s film work has screened internationally at Beloit International Film Festival, Cinequest, Black Harvest (Gene Siskel Center), Melbourne Lift-off (Australia), School of Sound (London), San Francisco IndieFest’s Decibels Music Film Festival, African Diaspora International Film Festival (NYC), and Pan African Arts and Film Festival (Los Angeles). Stage work includes Ephemera by Deborah Black, Sophia Treanor, and Mary Overlie (Dancer - Clurman MAD series at Stella Adler NYC), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (movement director - Horizon Theatre/Aurora Theatre), and AntigoneNOW (movement designer - Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre). Roger has worked across the US with Writers Theatre, The Poetry Foundation, Sacramento Music Circus, American Music Theatre Project, California Center for the Arts, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Paramount Theatre, and San Diego Repertory.

Roger has undergone extended study with Fay Simpson (Lucid Body), Stephen Wangh (Grotowski), Mary Overlie, Deborah Black, Sophia Treanor (Six Viewpoints), Wendell Beavers (Developmental Movement), and Erika Berland (Experiential Anatomy). MFA San Diego State University; BA Oklahoma City University and certified Lucid Body Teacher. Roger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University. Roger is the movement coordinator for Northwestern’s MFA Acting Program. IG: @rogerellis | rogerellis.com