The Contemporary American Theater Festival, or CATF, returns July 5, and Wild Side Media had the opportunity to interview CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen about this year’s lineup of original works.
From July 5-28, DMV theatergoers can visit Shepherdstown, WV to experience “Tornado Tastes Like Aluminum Sting” by Harmon Dot Aut, directed by Oliver Butler; “Enough to Let the Light In” by Paloma Lauren, directed by Kimberly Senior; “The Happiest Man on Earth” by Mark St. Germain, directed by Ron Lagomarsino; and the two-parter, “What Will Happen to All That Beauty?” by Donja R. Love, directed by Malika Oyetimein.
McKowen spoke with Wild Side’s Founder and CEO Monica Alford about all four mainstage performances and how each is a celebration of how people feel and experience love — whether it’s a celebration of family, community or life in general.
“If you think of any play or any musical that you really love and go to see over and over again, you have to remember that it started somewhere as a new piece, and somebody took the risk to start it and to provide the resources and the support to enable it to have its first production and then to grow from there,” McKowen said. “We like to think that we’re launching new American theater, that we’re the place that the future canon of what people will see in the theater begins.”
Listen to the full conversation for an overview of this year’s event and the importance of local theater.
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