CHRIS PIRIE

Artistic Director of Green Ginger

Chris studied Art & Design at Richmond College and Dartington College of Arts; upon leaving he joined the legendary site-specific company Industrial & Domestic Theatre Contractors. In 1986 he met puppeteer Terry Lee and a long-term working partnership began. Three decades of performing in Green Ginger productions has taken Chris all over the world and he feels honoured to be leading the company through its fifth decade.

Outside of the company, he has directed productions for Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres, Scamp Productions and Travelling Light. Chris has also worked as a director, designer and consultant to Lyric Opera Chicago, Kneehigh, Arcadia Spectacular, Invisible Ink, Teatr Iolo, Living Pictures, Sherman Theatre, Theatre Hullabaloo, Garsington Opera, Royal & Derngate, Opera di Roma, Teatro di Communale Bologna, Welsh National Opera, Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Norwegian National Opera. He recently performed as a puppeteer onstage with Coldplay during their current Music of the Spheres World Tour.

His film and TV credits include creature effects/puppetry for Netflix’s new sci-fi series The Last Bus, Aardman Animations' Chump and The Big Read, Casualty and Blue Peter for the BBC Chris is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, lectures at leading UK universities and is a producer of Bristol Festival of Puppetry, which he co-founded in 2008.