My name is Christian Jay Santiago and I am a theatrical designer from Guam, USA.

When I was young, I tried my hand at many different artistic pursuits, including painting, graphic design, comic book drawing, sewing, and amateur interior decorating. I was lucky to have found the theatre program at the University of Guam, where each production posed new and interesting challenges in which to apply my existing skills and develop new ones. Though my theatrical roots are in scenic design and painting, I have since branched out into lighting design thanks to my training at the University of Iowa and hope to gain experience in other design areas in the future.

As an undergraduate student, I was the scenic designer for Twelve Angry Men, Mother Courage, and Fences. Additionally, I have been the scenic designer for 5 children’s summer theatre camp productions, most recently Forgiven: A Fairy Tale.

In 2018, I co-founded Breaking Wave Theatre Company, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting lifelong learning by providing practical experience for theatre artists and by hosting educational workshops related to the theatrical arts; to improving well-being through self expression by providing an outlet for creative energy while exploring social themes that affect the local community through selected productions; and to fostering a community of artists and audiences through the creation of original local plays and performance pieces and increasing accessibility of the arts to underserved populations. With Breaking Wave, I served as scenic designer for Tuesdays with Morrie and 21 Chump Street, and lighting designer for the locally written productions of Unspoken; A Mental Health Anthology and Comfort.

I have returned to the University of Iowa after a four-year hiatus and have previously designed the scenery for Cut & Run (NPF ’16) as well as serving as Assistant Scenic Designer for Food & Fadwa. I designed lighting for Jarred and served as Properties Master for Iphigenia Crash Land Falls… and Arcadia. I recently served as art director for Effective and am currently designing the scenery for The Rule of the World directed by Margarita Blush, the current Grant Wood Fellow.