This season more than ever, people have been interested in taking a peek “behind the scenes” to see how CATCO produces plays. In the fall, more than forty volunteers served on our Play Reading Groups, reading and discussing over seventy plays. “First Rehearsals” have become increasingly popular – we had a record crowd for the First Rehearsal of Seafarer and I’m turning away people from the one for Evie’s Waltz because we’ve run out of space.
Dramaturge Christopher Hill provides a profile of playwright Conor McPherson for the cast, crew and about two dozen guests at the First Rehearsal for Seafarer
At the dress rehearsal of The Santaland Diaires (which continued to draw good crowds in its 4th season), a class from the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) sat in. The students weren’t really there to see the show – it was a course devoted to sketching live performance – but despite their best attempts to concentrate on drawing, Jonathan Putnam’s performance as “Crumpet the Elf” kept distracting them. They laughed throughout the show!
CCAD class at Santaland dress rehearsal
A large group of theatre and arts teachers from the Columbus public schools joined us for a “professional development day” in December. CATCO staff talked with the teachers about our approach to producing plays, gave them a tour of the facility and then the group watched a matinee of our critically-acclaimed production of Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer.
Columbus theatre and arts teachers spend a professional development day at CATCO
The next public event CATCO has planned is a series of three public forums about our upcoming World Premiere of Pierce to the Soul by Chiquita Mullins Lee. The forums include a reading of an excerpt from the play and a lively public discussion with the playwright, actor, director and dramaturge. It’s a great opportunity to see how a play is created from scratch and to have some influence on its development.
The Greater Columbus Arts Council sponsored three of these forums in October, which were very well received by audiences. Thanks to another generous grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, CATCO will offer three more forums in late February at locations to be announced (check the CATCO website for details).
Actor Alan Bomar Jones reads an excerpt from Pierce to the Soul for an audience at the Central Community House.”
If you would like to be notified of future opportunities to “look behind the scenes,” contact me at gnelson@catco.org.
–Geoffrey Nelson
Artistic Director
