John Murrell is one of the most frequently produced of all Canadian playwrights, as well as a highly respected arts advocate, mentor, and consultant.  His plays have been translated into 15 different languages and performed in more than 30 countries around the world. He has worked as head of the Banff Playwrights Colony (1986-1989), as Head of the Theatre Section of the Canada Council For The Arts (1988-1992), as Artistic Director/Executive Producer of Theatre Arts at The Banff Centre (1999-2005), and as Executive Artistic Director of Performing Arts at The Banff Centre (2005-2007).

John Murrell’s work for the stage includes Waiting For The Parade, Memoir, Farther West, Democracy, and The Faraway Nearby.  His dramatic adaptation of The Odyssey was first performed as part of the Banff Summer Arts Festival 2001, and was remounted by Manitoba Theatre for Young People in Winnipeg, and subsequently by the National Arts Centre of Canada.

In February of 2003, the phenomenally successful new opera Filumena, a co-production between Calgary Opera and The Banff Centre, with music by John Estacio and libretto by Murrell, was premiered in Calgary and in Banff.  Filumena was produced by The Banff Centre, in April 2005, as the centrepiece of The Alberta Scene at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.  Produced by the Edmonton Opera in November, 2005, Filumena was filmed for CBC-TV’s Opening Night series, and has twice been nationally telecast.

In 2002, John Murrell received the coveted Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, and was presented with the Alberta Order of Excellence; in 2003, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada; in 2005 he received the inaugural Lieutenant Governor of Alberta's Arts Award, and an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary.