Our first spotlights feature three teaching artists who are directing in the Watertown Children’s Theatre Short Play Festival to be performed on November 13 and 14.
Eva Louise Murray (she/her/hers and they/them/theirs) is a teaching artist, director, choreographer, theater artist, performer, educator, and creative collaborator from Dedham, Massachusetts. She graduated from Connecticut College in 2017 with a double major in Theater (concentration in Performance) and Gender and Women’s Studies (now Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Studies). She currently live in Providence, Rhode Island.
Eva works at various theaters, organizations, schools, and education programs throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. As a teaching artist at the MCA and elsewhere, she is fully dedicated to serving and supporting the magic of young people! “I believe that we are all students of life and am honored to be able to share in collaboration, creativity, curiosity, and imagination with my students,” she says. “I keep my dedication to the growth, agency, and expression of young people as their driving force in their classes.”
What’s your earliest memory of the arts?
Practicing for a dance to “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella in ballet class at the age of 3.
Do you have a favorite memory or story about MCA?
Feeling/sharing the energy vibrations, creative joy, and nervous excitement in the green room while leading warm-ups before sending the incredible young actors of Fantastic Mr.Fox to places.
How have you stayed connected to the arts these past seven months?
- Singing to release feelings, thoughts, and dreams
- Taking much needed time to focus back into my own artistry
- Teaching incredible students online and being reminded every day that they are our future
- Dance breaks
- Diving into, learning from, and connecting to characters on TV and movies
Do you have a favorite musical or play?
Billy Elliot, Fun Home, and The Color Purple
Do you have a favorite quote about the arts or one you’d like to share?
“It seemed to me that the friends and artists I felt this magnetic resonance with all had this sort of fire inside.” – Sabrina Chap
“The making of art is no different than prayer.” – Rainn Wilson
“[C]reativity starts with taking a leap of faith—telling your fears they are not allowed where you are headed.” – Beyoncé
If you’d like to inquire about working with Eva or schedule a private lesson, you can reach her at eva.louise.murray@gmail.com.
