AT S H E P H E R D U N I V E R S I T Ycontemporaryamericantheaterfestival

This is your guide to the 2016 Contemporary American Theater Festival. Your guide to the here & now.

Immerse yourself in a community of theater artists and experience the passion of new American theater produced and developed in the historic village of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on the banks of the Potomac River, just seventy miles from our nation’s capital.

We thinktheater and we talktheater.

We are restless artists. We create, invent, and build new American plays. We deliver a unique enhanced repertory experience that ignites passion and curiosity about our contemporary world. We are designed to thinktheater. We will entertain and enthrall you with the transcendent power of words, ideas, and stories. The Theater Festival is a place of transformation; a place where we can collectively explore the here-and-now, confront messy human emotions, and unearth truth and beauty.

We talktheater through a range of patron-engagement activities, including art exhibitions, stage readings, lectures, artist/patron discussions, classes, and post-show conversations. This enhances your experience and keeps the dialogue flowing even after the performances have drawn to a close.

I am thrilled to introduce five new plays plucked from over 100 exceptionally strong literary submissions, the fruits of five bold playwrights.

Welcome to Season 26!

THE MISSION: To produce and develop new American Theater. THE VISION: The ultimate theater experience. CORE VALUES: Fearless Art; Daring and diverse stories; A profound dynamic among the audience, the artist, and the work.

ED HERENDEEN, Producing Director

26

CHRISTINA

ANDERSONALLISON

GREGORYCHISA

HUTCHINSONSUSAN

MILLERRONAN

NOONE

pen/man/ship

Ship’s Log: 1896. A father boards a ship and leads

a mysterious expedition bound for Africa. In

tow are his troubled son, a rebellious young

woman, and a skeptical crew. On the open sea,

an unexpected detour resurrects family secrets

and reveals true intentions, fundamentally

changing the course of the journey—and their

lives. Christina Anderson creates a telling

parable about violence, betrayal, faith, and

freedom in this moving maritime epic.

“Hope damages us…It weakens one of the most powerful tools we humans possess: doubt. When we doubt, we question, then we seek answers.”

By Christina Anderson Directed by Lucie Tiberghien

A maritime quest for truth

NOT MEDEA

What if the show you came to see is not the show

you need to see? A working mother escapes to the

sanctuary of the theater and encounters a play

she desperately doesn’t want to watch, so she

hijacks the show—and the audience—leading

them through her own very personal story. A

synthesis of myth/magic/real world, NOT MEDEA

is a funny and fierce slap-down about love, lust,

motherhood, and forgiveness.

And something else entirely.

“Do you remember…the precise moment you fell in love?…The kind that hurts and heals and haunts you like a starved spirit. Like you won’t survive it. Have you ever known that kind of love?”

an explosive take on love and motherhood

By ALLISON GRegory Directed by Courtney sale

an nnpn rolling world premiere

Doug is an average guy with an average life.

Until, that is, he finds himself at a wedding,

not as a guest…but as a gift. Surrounded by

those that speak a language he’s never heard,

Doug realizes he’s little more than a pet. And

when the bride grows dangerously fond of him,

the prospect of returning home becomes even

more remote. Chisa Hutchinson’s provocative

and uproariously funny new play asks: What

does it mean to be the only “outsider” in a

community? How does it feel to be the “other?”

“I’m not bad, considering I’ve been intergalactically sex-trafficked and am being held against my will in a very strange place, probably light years away from everyone and everything I know and love.”

a world premiereBy Chisa hutchinson

Directed by may adrales

SPONSORED BY lawrence dean and mina goodrich

a stunning spectacle of comedy and drama

20th Century Blues

Four women bond and become one another’s

timetable of history. Through the vagaries of

love, careers, children, lost causes and tragedy,

the women reunite once a year for a photo shoot,

chronicling their changing (and aging) selves.

But, when these private photographs have the

potential to become part of a public exhibit,

mutiny erupts and relationships are tested. The

images unearth secrets and force the women to

question who they are, what they’ve become, and

how they’ll navigate whatever lies ahead.

“You’re — rock and roll. The space launch. Civil rights. The decades that chronicle the most sweeping changes in everything. Style. Music. Literature. You’re my — sundial, my — alphabet. My guide to better living. You’re my memorial to all that.”

a world premiereby susan miller

directed by ed herendeen

SPONSORED BY the staging team

A sharply funny and evocative

exploration of time

The Second Girl

With Eugene O’Neill’s classic Long Day’s Journey

into Night as a backdrop, THE SECOND GIRL is a

lyrical, wrenching, and caustically funny play.

Set in the downstairs kitchen of the Tyrone

family’s summer residence, circa 1912, Noone’s

characters—two Irish immigrant servant girls

and a chauffeur—struggle with denial, personal

responsibility, and failure, while searching

for love, belonging, and a sense of what it really

means to call some place ‘home.’

“…a broken heart is not a qualification to being Irish—tis getting up with the pieces of the heart in your hand and asking the fella who broke it if he wouldn’t mind giving you a kick in the head, too. That’s Irish.”

by ronan noonedirected by ed herendeen

SPONSORED BY peter emch

an ode of passion, heartbreak, and humor

talktheateR WITH USlectures

SATURDAYS AT 4:30 PM IN REYNOLDS HALL | 109 N KING STREET | FREE

Distinguished guest speakers discuss issues raised in the plays in this popular lecture series.

JULY 9 THE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL PLAYWRIGHTSJULY 16 BEHIND THE MAGIC OF CATF SCENERY (FRANK CENTER)JULY 23 MENTORSHIP: NURTURING THE EMERGING PLAYWRIGHTJULY 30 BEHIND THE MAGIC OF CATF SCENERY (MARINOFF THEATER)

CATF in Context SATURDAYS AT 10:00 AM IN CCA 2, ROOM G03 | 62 WEST CAMPUS DRIVE | FREE

A scholarly approach to the repertory. Requires reservations.

JULY 9 THE FESTIVAL DESIGNERSJULY 16 A SCHOLARLY LOOK AT LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT JULY 23 AGEISM IN THE WORK PLACE AND MULTIPLE DISCRIMINATIONJULY 30 DRAMATURGY AND DIALOGUE

Saturday SalonsSATURDAYS AT 10:30 PM AT DOMESTIC | 117 EAST GERMAN STREET | FREE

Enjoy a late-night drink, lite fare, and discussion with CATF Staff. (Additional cost for food and drinks.)

JULY 16, 23, & 30

Friday FilmsFRIDAYS AT 2:00 PM AT THE OPERA HOUSE | 131 WEST GERMAN STREET | PAY AT THE DOOR

See a film that complements the play-going experience.

JULY 15 A LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHTJULY 22 MEDEAJULY 29 A WALK ON THE MOON

Stage Readings SeriesTUESDAYS AT 6:30 PM IN THE MARINOFF THEATER | 62 WEST CAMPUS DRIVE | FREE

JULY 19 THE POETRY OF FRANK X WALKERJULY 26 WELCOME TO FEAR CITY BY KARA LEE CORTHRON

thinktheater: THINKSUPPORT Your gift helps bridge the gap between ticket sales and the total Festival budget. Give today in support of bringing this summer’s season of compelling stories and ambitious new theater to life.

Call Vicki Willman at 304.876.5683 to make a tax- deductible contribution, or add your donation with your ticket purchase at catf.org.

Each season is possible because of you. Thank you!

TICKeT PRICING REP PASSESREP5 PASS: includes one ticket to ALL FIVE SHOWS!

5-SHOW PASS $2555-SHOW SENIOR PASS (65+) $230

REP4 PASS: includes one ticket to FOUR SHOWS (excludes Not Medea)

4-SHOW PASS $2024-SHOW SENIOR PASS (65+) $182

SUNDAY NIGHT PASS: FOUR Shows (Sundays; excludes Not Medea)

SUNDAY-4 (evenings only) $112

single ticketsREGULAR $62 SENIOR (65+) $56 SUNDAY NIGHT $33 WV WEEKDAY $38

TALKTHEATERBREAKFAST WITH ED $25 LUNCH & ART $30

CALL FOR MILITARY AND STUDENT PRICES. PRICES INCLUDE $3 PROCESSING FEE PER TICKET.DOWNLOAD THE ORDER FORM AT CATF.ORG/TICKETS

ORDER ONLINE: CATF.ORG BY PHONE: (M-F, Noon to 5pm)

304.876.3473 or 800.999.CATF (2283)

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