Nikolaus Morris

In 2008, Nikolaus graduated with distinction from an MA in Writing & Performance for which he was also awarded the Philip Brockbank award for exceptional achievement. In 2006, he graduated with a BA in History from the University of York, where he was the Vice-Chair, and Experimental-Theatre Rep, of the award-winning Drama Society. He is currently researching a PhD on projected video & film at the department of Theatre, Film & Television. He is due to graduate in 2011. Nikolaus has written and directed a number of productions and has designed video projections for the critically acclaimed theatre company ‘Out of the Blue’. He has received critical praise for his video designs, including 2headedpigeon’s A Wolf at the Door which premiered at the Fringe in 2004 (“Excellent video footage” The Scotsman). Nikolaus is a keen violinist, pianist & guitarist and has composed music for numerous shows including his own productions of The Ash Grove and Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, which featured a twenty minute score for a company of dancers. As a graphic designer he has produced a number of successful publicity campaigns, including the sell-out Fringe show Fantastic Mr. Fox (Edinburgh 2006) and Mad Forest (York Theatre Royal 2007). He is also an avid painter and designer, producing  abstract canvases for 2headedpigeon’s 2004 production of David Grieg’s Casanova. As a performer, Nikolaus has played a number of roles and has also written and performed musical comedy sketches at cabarets, he recently played Hamlet in a rehearsed reading of Donald Freed's new play Hamlet (In Rehearsal) at the York Theatre Royal Studio in October 2007.

As You Like It - directed by Nik in 2006	The Ash Grove - Written and directed by Nik in 2007

Directing, Writing & Composition:

Upcoming:
The Park Keeper - Writer & Director (Belt Up Theatre: C Central, Edinburgh, 2008)
A Clockwork Orange - Video Director & Composer (Belt Up Theatre: York Theatre Royal, 2008)

Past Productions:
Celebrity – Video Director & Assistant Director (Out of the Blue: York Theatre Royal, 2008)
The Ash Grove – Writer, Director, Composer (White Rose Theatre: York 2007)
Madman & The Nun – Composer (York Theatre Royal, 2007)
Mad Forest – Video Director (Out of the Blue: York Theatre Royal, 2007)
Rhinoceros – Director & Composer (Drama Barn: York, 2006)
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Animation Director (Rubber Duck Theatre: Edinburgh, 2006)
The Rise & Fall of Little Voice – Animation Director (Drama Barn: York, 2006)
As You Like It – Director (Drama Barn: York, 2006)
Travesties – Video Director (Drama Barn: York, 2006)
Whoreticulture – Video & Animation Director (Stagecoach Theatre: York, 2005)
Miss Julie – Director (Drama Barn: York, 2005)
Betrayal – Video Designer (Drama Barn: York, 2005)
Sexual Perversity in Chicago – Animation Director (Drama Barn: York, 2005)
Woyzeck – Director (Drama Barn: York, 2005)
Far Away – Video Director (Out of the Blue: York Theatre Royal, 2005)
Reduced Wagner: The Ring Cycle – Writer (York, 2004)
A Wolf at the Door – Video Director (2headedpigeon: Edinburgh, 2004)
Sharing a Laugh - Director of Photography (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2004)
1984 – Video Director & Assistant Director (Little Acorn: York, 2004)

Acting credits include:

Tartuffe in The Tartuffe; Jamie Wilkes after Moliere. Ensemble Grotesque in Metamorphosis; Berkoff after Kafka (WINNER: BEST ENSEMBLE, NSDF '08); Warren in Epitaph; Adrian Wenner & Ethan Sandler. Mr Putnam and Rev. Parris in The Crucible; Arthur Milller. Berenger in Rhinoceros; Eugene Ionesco. Fantastic Mr. Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox; David Wood after Roald Dahl. Man in Man & God; Chris Bush. Mr. Boo in The Rise & Fall of Little Voice;  Jim Cartwright. Copper in Whoreticulture; Sam Haddow. Mr. X in Anonymous; Katherine Sheen. Ernst in The Juden Folllies; Abigail Tarrant. Owen Shorter in Clouds; Michael Frayn. Adam in Respiration; Clare Shucksmith. Woodcutter in Blood Wedding; Frederico Garcia Lorca. Krogstad in A Doll’s House; Henrik Ibsen.

Nikolaus has trained with, and has taken part in workshops by Donald Freed, Oliver Ford Davies, Matthew Marsh, Genista Mackintosh, Penelope Wilton, Max-Stafford Clark, Mary Luckhurst, Mike Cordner, all at the University of York; Studio N-Art in Warsaw, Poland; and Welsh National Opera.

Directing a video shoot for Out of the Blue's production of Celebrity at York Theatre Royal.

Rhinoceros - by Eugene Ionesco, directed by Nik in 2006