COLUMRUS THEATER SPOTLIGHT

CATCO

A combination of
resourcefulness and
experimentation has kept
this professional theater
afloat for over 15 years.
heater companies often come and go,
with artistic endeavors thwarted by pre-
carious to nonexistent funding. But the
1 Contemporary American Theatre Com-
pany (CATCO) of Columbus, Ohio, has
survived for over 16 years because it has
paid attention to the quality of its artistic
productions as well as its financial health.
In 1985, the company scrounged around
for resources to successfully produce a
two-character play, Bill C. Davis' Mass
Appeal, which was staged at the local
YWCA auditorium. This season features six
full-length plays, each with a one-month
run, and ends with a "Shorts Festival,"
described as pint-sized plays for those who
can't pay attention.
By 1986, the company had found its first
home, a converted warehouse on 514 N.
I1 ~I Park Street. It lacked heating and air con-
ditioning, so the audience sat through win-
ter performances in their coats and drank
complimentary iced tea and fanned them-
selves during the summer productions.
One audience member was moved to
donate a furnace and air conditioning; the
company performed in that space for the
next 12 years until it relocated to its current
home, the Rifle Center for Government
and the Arts in downtown Columbus. The
Riffe is managed by the Columbus Associ-
ation for the Performing Arts. "We have a
sort of 'most favored nation' status under
them that allows us some economies in A scenefrom CATCO'sproductionof TheGrapesOf Wrath.Pictured(left to right): Linda
producing here," says Geoffrey Nelson, Dorff,JordanPsigoda,GeoffreyMartin.

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CATCO's executive director and founder.
CATCO performs out of two facilities in the
Riffe: Studio I, a 242-seat proscenium theater
and Studio n, a 157-seat black box that can
be set up in a thrust or a round configura-
tion. Production manager T.]. Gerckens says
that many of their productions challenge
their spaces because they lack certain fea-
tures. "We have very little wing space and
very little back space, so if we're doing
shows with multiple settings, we have to be
very creative in the design to achieve those
settings without moving a lot of scenery."
For example, in The Grapes Of Wrath
(2000-2001 season), the set design called for
wing space and the creation of three differ-
ent levels: a raked area, a main area and a
truck platform. Gerckens created wing space
and made a platform on a pivot. That same
platform became the truck as well as the
stage and then a boxcar. In all, 23 actors and
and create illusions, such as light streaming
through a window. They also use Altman
iKAF fresnels as general wash lighting as
well as top and back lighting.
Support facilities on-site include a scene
shop, costume shop and sound-isolated
room for recording sound effects. For the
2002-2003 season, the CATCO staffers will
have access to the largest of the Riffe the-
w
aters, the Capitol, an SOO-seat facility set up '"
3
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in a proscenium design, complete with lifts 0
and fly space. Plans are in the works to ~
0
mount Dickens' A Christmas Carol there.
A testy moment informs CATCO'smounting of
CATCO is aware of its competition for audi- Three Tall Women. Pictured: Kerry Shankin
ence share in the live performing arts. (w/arm in sling) and Christina Kirk.
According to Nelson, CATCO deliberately
presents a repertory that is not being offered Three Days Of Rain, and ends with a Shorts
elsewhere in the city or which may not be Festival (May 7-June 2).
familiar to the audience, ranging from fami- Nelson came up with the idea of an annu-
ly-oriented shows to more adult fare that al Shorts Festival for people with sholt
includes political pieces, classics and con- attention spans. When the Shorts were first ill

two musicians perfor.med on the stage. This
production won a "Best Play" citation in the
eighth annual Central Ohio Theatre Critics
Circle awards presentation.
CATCO boasts a wealth of lighting options,
invoking a current inventory of 156 dimmers
in Studio nand 256 in Studio 1.They use Alt-
temporary plays. The 2001-2002 season
opened with Douglas Post's mystery thriller,
Murder In Green Meadows (September 11-
October 7), followed by Rebecca Gilman's
popular Spinning Into Butter, Oscar Wilde's
classic comedy The Importance Of Being
Earnest, John Cameron Mitchell's campy
produced in 1991, each play could be in
any setting. "But the sets ended up looking
like a yard sale," recalls Nelson. "You tried
to get pieces that you could reuse and
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nothing looked good." In addition, the time
"I"
commitment required to do rewrites and
work out other logistics was three or four
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man iKL series lights and between 25 to
50 zoom fixtures designed to project patterns
Hedwig And the Angry Inch, Emily Mann's times that of a full-length production. So
Having Our Say and Richard Greenberg's out went the Shorts after three seasons.
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 THEATER SPOTLIGHT
CATCO was able to revive the Shorts in
2000 by predetermining a single location that
all the plays had to be written for and by
specifying the number, age range and gender
of the characters. "That way we can ensure
that we can have a good-looking set, and we
can have a good cast that can function well
for all the pieces," explains Nelson. This sea-,
son, each one-act play, solicited from Ohio
playwrights, lasts about 15 minutes. The
Shorts will now be produced biannually.
CATCO is known as an "actor's theater,"
which, Nelson says, embodies a team
approach to a production phase when the
actors, director and others involved can par-
ticipate in crafting it. "It doesn't change the
need for the director to provide the leader-
ship," he says. "But it does mean that the
director has to be willing to incorporate the
views of others."
The company is also a professional the-
ateI', operating under a contract with Actors
Equity Association that requires them to
employ a certain percentage of union
actors. Resident actors Jonathan Putnam
and Marianne Timmons and guest artists
can expect to rehearse on average 36 hours
a week for four weeks, then perform for
four weeks. Most actors are based within
three hours from Columbus, in Ohio, Michi-
gan and Indiana as part of CATCO's mission
to establish a regional identity. But talent
has also been recruited from New York,
Chicago and Los Angeles.
With current annual corporate and individ-
ual support in excess of $1 million, CATCO
works with National Arts Stabilization, a firm
that helps organizations develop the manage-
rial and financial skills required to thrive in
today's changing environment.
For most of its existence, CATCO subsisted
on a balanced budget. However, in 1998, the
company lost its managing director and
began a two-year search for a replacement.
During these seasons, the company operated
in the red, ending with a net assets deficit of
$58,651 in the 1999-2000 season. The hiring
of Executive Director Daniel Edelman, a 20-
year theater professional who was previously
managing director of the Delaware Theatre
Company, helped to close the 2000-2001 sea-
son with a modest surplus.
CATCO has also expanded its marketing
efforts. In addition to traditional exposure
through the press and direct mail, this year If1
CATCO hired a press agent, started hosting
subscriber parties Cits 2000 spring benefit
featured Grammy and Oscar-winning com-
poser Stephen Schwartz) and now uses tele-
marketing to promote the company. For
more information on CATCO, call 614-461-
1382, or log on to www.catco.coffi.SO

Helen McKnight is ajournalist basedintheMidwest.

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