2025 - TalkTheater Lecture Archive - Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University

Embrace the festival experience by attending and participating in talktheater events!

Meet artists and other patrons as you explore the many stages of new play development and enrich your knowledge surrounding the repertory.

Free events presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council.

2025 Lecture Archive

Hear from experts as they explore the constructs and context of the shows, and meet resident artists as they share their creative process and discuss how they got to where they are.

July 12: The Playwrights’ Panel
- Click HERE to watch the recording
July 19: Fights, Falls, and Fakery: Meet the Stunt Directors
- Click HERE to watch the recording
July 26: Is Storytelling Theater? Is Theater Storytelling?
- Click HERE to Zoom in
Aug. 2: An Openly Gay Stuntman: Changing Stereotypes in Hollywood
- Click HERE to watch the recording

2025 CATF in Context Archive

This scholarly approach to the festival takes a deep dive into the worlds of the plays.

July 12: Who was Mary Magdalene
- Click HERE to watch the recording
July 19: Children of Reunion: Vietnamese Adoptions and the Politics of Family Migrations
- Click HERE to watch the recording
July 26: Women in the Church: A Panel with Faith Leaders
- Click HERE to Zoom in
Aug. 2: Are Psychiatric Diagnoses and Drugs the Answer?
- Click HERE to Watch the recording