ISSUED: 16 January 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Department of Contemporary Art and Theater and the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) will host a free play reading in conjunction with International Women’s Voices Day. The reading of “Ripe Frenzy” by Jennifer Barclay will take place on Sunday, January 21, at 6 p.m. in the Frank Center W.H. Shipley Recital Hall.
“First and foremost, we are looking for plays that deserved to be witnessed,” said Ed Herendeen, professor of theater and CATF founder and producing director. “The stories we want to tell reflect the current issues, ideas, and emotions of our world today. We want to hold a mirror up to society, as a reflection of who we are as a people, inclusive of races, gender, religion, orientation, and creeds. We are a melting pot of stories.”
Since it was founded in 1991, CATF has produced 121 new plays; women have written 60 of those plays and 45 percent of CATF directors have been women.
“We are committed to producing work written by diverse playwrights, the diversity of our artists on stage, and in our administrative offices,” Herendeen said.
Gabrielle Tokach, CATF’s public relations manager, will direct the free reading of “Ripe Frenzy” and the cast will consist of Shepherd students and faculty, as well as community members.
For more information about CATF’s and Shepherd University’s staged reading, email info@catf.org or call 900-999-CATF (2283).
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