Christopher Simpson is a student of Comparative Literature at Princeton University. He currently studies theater in both the Anglo-American and East African traditions, and intends to translate and produce a traditional Swahili play for his senior thesis, the culmination of his four years of study. To this end, he will spend autumn 2007 in Kenya, on leave from school, where he will learn first hand about Swahili language and culture. He plans to graduate in May 2009.
Chris serves as the president and artistic director of the CTC, which he founded in 2005 with the help of many of his wonderful friends. Although the company was originally founded and operated on vision alone, he is thrilled that it is slowly coming under the collaborative care of many, instead of one.
Theatrically, he is interested in exploring the unique opportunities and challenges the stage presents. Where film allows for near-perfect realism, the stage is limited in how authentic it can be, and thus must turn to other modes of expression to remain relevant. Chris hopes that the CTC's 2007 season will be the first time that the company has really begun to explore these other possibilities.
His past acting experiences include a wide range of roles (in a wider range of plays) including Vaudeville's My Home, Imagine That!, The Importance of Being Earnest, Annie, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Patience, Cut, Breakfast, Antony and Cleopatra, The Thousand Stringed Instrument, and Cuchulain Comforted. He served as the stage manager for the Princeton University Theater Department's fall show, The Playboy of the Western World.
His directing credits include SKPades, Princeton's second and third annual 24-Hour Play Festivals (winning Best Overall Production in the latter), as well as numerous short scenes and one acts, as well as excerpts from The Hyacinth MacCaw and The Skin of Our Teeth. He has directed the CTC productions of Rumors, Proof, and You Can't Take It With You, and took home the honor of Best Overall Production for his direction in the 2007 CTC 24-Hour Play Festival. This season he will be directing three one-act plays for Scenes on the Green, as well as The Matchmaker and Set and Drift.