Contemporary American Theater Festival expands 27th season to half-dozen plays
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SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — In a time when theater companies are dealing with slashing of funding, and in some cases shuttering, Contemporary American Theater Festival, based on Shepherd University’s campus in Shepherdstown, is doing the extraordinary — it’s growing.
Since the first season in 1991 with two plays, CATF has grown to six plays in its 27th season.
This year’s offerings are “The Niceties” by Eleanor Burgess; “Welcome to Fear City,” a world premiere by Kara Lee Corthron; “Wild Horses” by a National New Play Rolling World Premiere by Allison Gregory; “Byhalia, Mississippi” by Evan Linder; “Everything is Wonderful,” a world premiere by Chelsea Marcantel; and “We Will Not Be Silent,” a world premiere by David Meyers. Previews begin today and run through Thursday, July 6. The official opening night is Friday, July 7, and will run through Sunday, July 30.
Peggy McKowen, associate producing director, has been with CATF since 2006. That year there were four plays, two of which she designed costumes for: Noah Haidle’s “Mr. Marmalade” and Keith Glover’s “Jazzland.” As McKowen took the time the day before they ramped up for tech week at the festival, she said talked about audiences watching a half-dozen plays.
“It will be interesting to see if the audience has the appetite for six,” she said during a telephone call from her office in Shepherdstown. “So far, our ticket sales indicate that they do. And if that continues to prove true through the season then yes, we will continue to offer six plays in the future. But if we feel that we’re not seeing the type of engaged involvement from our audience for six plays, then we may have to think about whether we can sustain six plays, but we’ll see how it how it goes.”
Six plays was a part of founder and producing director Ed Herendeen’s original dream for what the festival could potentially be for not only Shepherdstown, but the theater community at large. And plays have not been the only way the festival has grown.
When McKowen started two buildings had yet to be built — Phase I of the Center for Contemporary Arts building opened in 2008, or Phase 2, which opened in 2013.
“My office was in the Frank Center and I shared it with the person who at that point was called the business manager. And Ed had a office,” she said. “That was the only dedicated space that we had until the summer.”
CATF employs five full-time people year-round, with 122 total people inhabiting Shepherdstown this summer for the festival’s run.
Now, CATF takes up one side of the Phase 1 building, and nearly all of Phase 2, which includes the 180-seat Stanley C. and Shirley A. Marinoff Theater. The next step would be Phase 3.
“Our hope is to have another theater in there so that we have this complex center for contemporary arts that houses everything for the festival, and to move out of the Frank Center entirely,” McKowen said. “That theater is a little too large for the kind of plays that we do and the set up is a little difficult for the plays that we do. We want something a little bit more intimate for our audience and artists. During the season year in general, the Frank Center really wants to become a place for the music department, so our effort is to support them as well. If we can get out there and get into the other building, they need more space as well, too.”
McKowen said the festival has continued to grow in other CATF-related activities from Gallery Talks to Breakfast with Ed, Lunch & Arts, and now Friday Films. Recently, CATF expanded across the Potomac River with “High Drama,” an exhibit of CATF costumes at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.
“That has also always been part of Ed’s vision, that it would really become a festival-like environment that includes all the arts that would always have activities going on and things related to the plays,” she said. “I feel like we’re following the path of that the vision. We’re trying to add those things as we can and implement them, just continue to grow toward our goal. That goal is always changing a little bit. As we grow, we discover something else that would really be part of the festival experience. We’ll probably never be done. We always have things that we believe should be part of that experience in a way we haven’t thought about before. That sense of the arts interrelated is really part of our mission, too.”
There are still things that still need to be checked off on the CATF list.
“One of them is the ability to have playwrights longer in residence and actually start the writing process with us, and develop a script for longer than just the summer,” she said. “We do some of that because if we commission, we will start a year in advance, but they aren’t necessarily here and they’re not constantly having readings with us. We do want to get to a place where we can spend a little bit more time developing scripts, so that’s one thing.”
The third yet-to-be-built building will include a library and resource center for new plays and the history of new plays.
“The other thing like to do is have this collection of work and all the things we’ve done over the years to a point it become a research center for other people who are interested in new play development,” she said. “And so that’s a big product.”
Another aspect is to finally get a theater major as part of Shepherd University’s curriculum.
“So the little educational piece of what CATF is, is now beginning to take off, and I’d like to see it take off and really flourish,” she said.
As for what the future of theater in Shepherdstown is, McKowen is confident it will always have a place.
“I feel that we’re a beacon of a lot of different constituencies. For the community of Shepherdstown I think we are demonstrating that we are a cultural identity to this place that draws people, and that the community wants to support and be a part of,” she said. “So it is important to demonstrate to people of West Virginia has this rich cultural activity and institution. We serve the people of our community and our state as a real cultural leaders, and I think that’s important to everyone involved. I think to our community what we contribute in terms of tourism and financial support and influx of income into the community during the summer is really important too. For those people have no interest in art, but are excited about businesses doing better, we’re helping that community as well. And just in terms of theater as an industry. There’s a lot of arts organizations and theaters right now that are suffering because their funding at many different levels — state, federal, foundation wise. I think this is sign of hope that theater still matters, that people are still committed to going to the theater and it is a going to be a part of the culture here, no matter what.”
If you go
WHAT: Contemporary American Theater Festival
WHEN: Previews today through Thursday, July 6; official opening Friday, July 7; various times
WHERE: Shepherd University campus, 301 N. King St., Shepherdstown, W.Va.
COST: Single tickets: $65; $55, seniors; $35 Sundays after 4:30 p.m.; packages available
CONTACT: For a compete schedule or to purchase tickets, go to CATF.org, call 800-999-2283 or 304-876-3473
