Press
Photo by Seth Freeman.
Dyllon Burnside and Yaegel T. Welch in Welcome To Fear City by Kara Lee Corthron. CATF. 2017. World Premiere.
Margaret Ivey and Jason Babinsky in THE WEDDING GIFT by Chisa Hutchinson. Photo by Seth Freeman. CATF 2016.
BY PALOMA NOZICKA Directed by Kimberly Senior
A WORLD PREMIERE BY HARMON DOT AUT Directed by Oliver Butler
“…one of the nation’s most satisfying seasonal destinations for original drama.”
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IN THE NEWS
July 29, 2025 • American Theatre Magazine
The Contemporary American Theater Festival is now the only U.S. gathering of its kind that fully stages all its offerings—and that matters more now.
“I get the impression that you’re excited,” Peggy McKowen told the crowd at the top of her curtain speech at the July 11 opening night of this year’s annual Contemporary American Theater Festival. In one sense, she was reporting a simple fact: There was indeed a palpable pre-show buzz in the 376-seat Frank Center Theater on the campus of Shepherd University, where CATF has been staging new plays each summer since 1991. MORE»
Eastern Panhandle Talk: Peggy McKowen – CATF
March 11, 2026 • WRNR (YouTube)
Host Rob Mario and co-hosts Bill Stubblefield and Maria Lorensen talk with CATF’s Artistic Director Peggy McKowen about CATF, the five plays coming to the Festival, and what CATF means to the Eastern Panhandle. MORE»
Exciting lineup on tap for theater festival in Shepherdstown, W.Va.
July 13, 2025 • Washington Blade
As a queer Latino freelance costume designer, Christopher Vergara’s work has taken him from Broadway to a multitude of regional outposts and companies worldwide. Over the last decade, he’s lent his prodigious talents to theater, opera, TV, and film, and beyond.
Currently the native New Yorker is costuming playwright Mark St. Germain’s new two-hander “Magdalene,” now making its world premiere at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.). MORE»
The Rousuck’s Review: The Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 24, 2025 • WYPR
Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom in the studio to review one of our region’s current theater productions.
This week, she gives us an inside look into plays on stage at the Contemporary American Theater Festival. The festival runs through August 3 at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. MORE»
Review: SIDE EFFECTS MAY INCLUDE… a Touching, Comedic Take on Mental Health
July 18, 2025 • BroadwayWorld.com
When someone we love suddenly finds themselves in great distress, and a therapist offers one quick, seemingly simple, chemical solution, should we take it?
And what if it turns out that solution is ten times worse than the distress your loved one was experiencing in the first place? What if the odds of crippling consequences, which seemed so remote at first, suddenly loom large and threaten to swallow you whole? MORE»
‘Did My Grandfather Kill My Grandfather?’ at CATF
July 15, 2025 • DC Theater Arts
“Where are you from?”
With this question, Cody LeRoy Wilson engages the audience. He is standing on what appears to be the back porch of his family’s farm in Plum Run, West Virginia — complete with a screen door, whitewashed wooden walls, and an antique chair — as if these 100 or so people just happened to stop by one summer afternoon. After a smattering of answers (responses ranging from DMV locals to visitors from as far as Florida), he endeavors to answer that question for himself. MORE»
Theatre Review: ‘Kevin Kling: Unraveled’ at the Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 19, 2025 • MD Theatre Guide
“…moving production…a tour de force…”
“Kevin Kling: Unraveled” might just as well be titled “Kevin Kling: Unrivaled” as a more accurate reflection of the remarkably resilient Mr. Kling. His ability to thrive through adversity powers the stories in this moving production based on the life and times of the playwright and performer. MORE»
‘Magdalene’ at Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 15, 2025 • DC Theater Arts
It doesn’t take much to be intrigued by the works of Mark St. Germain. His Becoming Dr. Ruth was acclaimed at Theater J several years ago, while The Happiest Man on Earth and Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah both hit their strides at previous Contemporary American Theater Festivals. His Magdalene tackles history as remembered, perceived, and experienced by two biblical figures, Apostle Peter and Mary Magdalene. Germain provides backstory, reflection, and possible intention to these iconic figures as they explore and evolve to become totally different characters from who we expect them to be.. MORE»
—Travel Pulse
Go behind the scenes at CATF and enjoy our own ‘TALK THEATER’ video series, supported, in part, by the West Virginia Humanities Council.
https://vimeo.com/110079704
Documentary interview with scenic designer David Barber. David gives a tour of his set for “North of the Boulevard” at The Contemporary American Theater Festival 2014.
Directed by Michael McKowen.
https://vimeo.com/107326123
UNCANNY VALLEY by Thomas Gibbons
Directed by Tom Dugdale
Featuring Barbara Kingsley & Alex Podulke
https://vimeo.com/69377923
Theater legend Jon Jory talks new plays in this exclusive interview with CATF Managing Director James McNeel.
https://vimeo.com/71439600
CATF’s 2013 Hostel Youth! Program, a recap.
https://vimeo.com/70068950
CATF’s changeover, set to music from The Mynabirds, in the Marinoff Theater. Watch the crew transform the space from the set for Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah by Mark St. Germain into Modern Terrorism… by Jon Kern. Set Design by David M. Barber.
An Interview with Liz Duffy Adams on her play A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World.
https://vimeo.com/69838236
2013 VIDEO ARCHIVES
CATF Opening!
https://vimeo.com/69334181
An Interview with Jon Jory on Jane Martin’s play H2O.
https://vimeo.com/69252348
An Interview with Mark St. Germain on his play Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah.
https://vimeo.com/69252347
Mark St. Germain continues his conversation about his career and the craft of playwriting.
https://vimeo.com/69483322
Meet the Designer: David Barber.