Ira S. Murfin is a theatre artist and cultural worker. He has created original public programming in partnership with Chicago communities and cultural institutions, and written and lectured on contemporary theatre and performance for both academic audiences and the general public. Ira holds an Interdisciplinary PhD in Theatre & Drama from Northwestern University and an MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His original interactive, solo, and collectively created performance work has been seen at many arts venues, festivals, and literary series in Chicago and elsewhere. Since 2016, dozens of people have participated in his ongoing conversational performance project, An Interview. With his friend and collaborator Aaron Kahn, Ira co-hosted the exploratory and expansive podcast Jiggle It a Little It’ll Open, currently on indefinite hiatus. He is also the proprietor and curator of the itinerant vintage housewares + decor shop Drinking Our Words. He lives in Chicago with his family.

(Photo by Joe Mazza, Brave Lux)