20/20 Vision

The Contemporary American Theater Festival celebrates her 20th Anniversary Season in 2010. This is a miraculous story about passion, perseverance and vision.

When you are in your 20’s, you don’t imagine anything lasting 20 years. In 1991 the stars aligned perfectly over the historic village of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Those of us in the theater know…the stars almost never align, let alone perfectly. There is always something that’s off; something you wish you’d done better, something that went wildly off track. But in 1991, everything shifted into place and the Contemporary American Theater Festival produced her first season. That first season was only 20 years ago.

This momentous milestone concedes that good fortune and good timing certainly played roles in establishing our annual new play festival, but, luck is too simplistic an answer for how the Theater Festival found success. Our history, in fact, is one of calculated risks, strong work ethics, and artistic vision. Our success derives not from luck but from a passionate commitment to making contemporary theater with an extraordinary Board of Trustees in partnership with Shepherd University. The relationship between the Festival Board and Shepherd created the conditions for financial stability, quality productions, access to the best playwrights and theater artists. This symbiotic relationship has established a theater festival dedicated to producing and developing new American theater that not only reflects national trends (as a means of maintaining relevance) but serves as a haven for contemporary playwrights.

Twenty years ago my theater friends were in disbelief when I announced that I was going to West Virginia to start a professional theater dedicated to new work. “Shepherdstown?”…they said…”Seriously?”

Some people possess the commonly held perception that Broadway is the center of American theater. Yet, every summer playwrights and theater artists from around America converge on Shepherdstown to nurture, develop and produce five new American plays in rotating repertory. Shepherdstown virtually becomes the summer home for the contemporary American stage.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Theater Festival is our location. Since 1991 Shepherdstown has been an incubator for new plays. This ambitious repertory thrives in conditions where few would have expected any arts festival to prosper. Yet our reputation as a “playwrights theater” provides Shepherdstown and Shepherd University with a national reputation for supporting established playwrights, discovering new voices and producing some of America’s best new plays.

We had 20/20 vision 20 years ago. 20/20 vision is perfect vision.

Ed Herendeen