We recently connected with Karissa Murrell Myers and have shared our conversation below.

Karissa, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’ve been performing since I was 3 years old. I’d love to stand up on a bench and tell made up stories or sing songs to my family or participate in little skits at church. When I was 15, I started a drama theatre group with my friends. We would put on plays together, I would direct and act in them, and it was such a powerful experience that I decided then that I wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts, with the end goal in mind of becoming an artistic director. I started attending Boise State University at 16 and I immediately signed up to be a theatre arts major. It’s been over 20 years since I started on this path and I’m so grateful that I did. Not many people know what they want to be when they’re young but I feel fortunate that I always did.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an award winning Filipino American theatre artist based out of Chicago. Originally from Idaho, I strives to bring my multicultural experience and passion for diversity to my work in acting, playwriting, producing, directing, and casting. I serve as the the Artistic Director and Co-Founder at Bramble Theatre Company and was featured in American Theatre Magazine’s “Theatre Workers You Should Know” in 2020 for my advocacy work in casting. I believe that self-advocacy is an important part of the artists’ journey and teach classes in this realm to college students and adults.

An O’Neill Finalist, my plays have been produced and/or developed at Goodman Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, American Blues Theatre, The Gift Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Silk Road Cultural Center, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Boise Contemporary Theatre, City Theatre, Broken Nose Theatre, Avalanche Theatre, Our Perspective: Asian American Plays, and Bramble. I’m also a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and SAG-AFTRA.

I have a BA in Theatre Arts from Boise State University and an MFA in Performance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where I received multiple acting awards including three nominations for my acting work from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Irene Ryan Awards and represented UH at those regional competitions. I’m also a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, Class of 2019. My theatre credits include working at Court Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Goodman Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago, and Renaissance Theaterworks. Television work includes Chicago Med, Chicago PD, The Big Leap, Exorcist, and Electric Dreams.

I am an adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois Chicago and have guest lectured at several universities and colleges around the US.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had been a lot more confident in my own artistic voice when I was younger, as I’m sure most people do. The reason I teach self-advocacy to my students is because I didn’t have those resources myself when I was first starting out and I feel like if I had, I would been much better set up for success. I moved to Chicago in 2015 and I knew no one, so I really had to start from the bottom. One thing that helped me was I learned that networking doesn’t have to be artificial or icky; approaching networking from a mindset of community building instead was a great refresh on my perspective and this is what I would encourage others to consider when first starting out.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the most life-changing experiences of my life was attending the School at Steppenwolf. I had heard about the program and quite frankly, the program sounded challenging and a bit terrifying. It was a 10-week program that demanded 50 hours of your time per week, not including time for homework; it’s also very selective and competitive as actors from all over the world apply for a chance every year so I felt sure I wouldn’t be able to get in. But then I did. And I’m so glad that I did because that’s where I met my Bramble ensemble. Once the program was over, I was determined that we should stick together as a cohesive group and start a theatre company. Our first in-person show was supposed to be in April 2020, but then the Covid lockdown hit that spring and momentum for the company slowed. Some in the group felt that maybe this just wasn’t going to happen, but I absolutely refused to give up. It took a lot of work, perseverance, and sheer stubbornness sometimes, but in February 2021, Bramble Theatre Company was launched with a very successful run of our first show, The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries: Chicago, a telephonic immersive devised piece created by Sebastien Heins, one of our ensemble members. Throughout the challenges of the pandemic, we’ve continued to grow and our artistic home, the Bramble Arts Loft, had its grand opening earlier this month (April 2024). It’s been so gratifying to see all the hard work we put into this company, which I love dearly.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kmurrellmyers.com, www.brambletheatre.org
• Instagram: @kmurrellmyers

Image Credits
Collin Quinn Rice, Jenn Udoni