Marinoff Theater celebrates 10th anniversary with opening of 2023 CATF season

CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen chats with attendees of the first showing of "Your Name Means Dream" in the Marinoff Theater last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Saturday night, the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) celebrated the beginning of its first season developed under its new leadership, Artistic Director Peggy McKowen and Managing Director Jeff Griffin, at its opening weekend party in the Dr. Robert Scott Beard Memorial Lobby.
Along with the introduction of the five world premieres in the 2023 festival lineup, McKowen also noted on Friday night that another significant aspect of this year’s festival is the anniversary that it marks.
“Welcome to the theater!” McKowen said. “This season is our 10th year anniversary in the Marinoff Theater! It’s hard to believe that we have been here that long, but here we are, and we are so grateful for the Marinoff family for making this happen — for Dr. Stanley Marinoff and in memoriam of his wife, Shirley A. Marinoff.”
Dr. Stanley Marinoff, of Shepherdstown and Chevy Chase, Md., made a legacy endowment contribution to the Shepherd University Foundation in memory of his late wife, establishing it to support the educational initiatives and artistic programming of the Contemporary American Theater Festival.
“When the festival was founded in 1991, Shirley A. Marinoff was on the board. Since the founding of the festival, there has always been a Marinoff on our board!” McKowen said, as she pointed out the presence of Allison Marinoff Carle, who is the current Marinoff sitting on CATF’s board of directors.

A couple of Contemporary American Theater Festival attendees walk up to Studio 112 for the first performance of "Spiritus/Virgil's Dance" last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
With the first CATF season fully under her direction coming to life, McKowen spoke of the overwhelmingly positive reactions she received, after being named CATF Founder Ed Herendeen’s successor in 2021.
“When it was first announced that I was becoming the new Artistic Director, people from all over the country reached out to me,” McKowen said. “People that I didn’t even know reached out to say, ‘Congratulations!’ I think, because it has been a tough time for the theater industry in the last few years, our industry is becoming more connected. I feel that kind of support. That is one benefit of this new world — we are taking better care of each other.”
While a number of theaters and theater festivals were forced to close during the COVID-19 Pandemic, McKowen indicated that good may come from this time of change.
“The thing that sits the most with me, right now, is the sense of opportunity — I do feel like a door has been opened for us, to make some transformative change in the way that we practice and the way that we work in the art and the way that we connect with our audiences,” McKowen said. “The thing that gets me through all of the challenges that are the most frustrating, is the idea that there is real light for us, if we continue to believe and if we continue to work together. So, as audience members, we need you to keep going to the theater. We need you to keep supporting us. We need you to bring friends. We need to reignite the love of what this art can do for our community and for people together.”
One of the ways McKowen said she has considered attracting new interest in theater, is by bringing it to previously unreached audiences.

Audience members wait in anticipation for the start of the first performance of "Your Name Means Dream" in the Marinoff Theater last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
“I have this dream of doing some of our plays in Sharpsburg,” McKowen said, referring to Sharpsburg, Md. “One of the reasons I have that dream, is because I know that audience doesn’t come to CATF. I know that that audience has a slightly different mindset, but I think that they would enjoy the theater and the conversation. And I think that there’s a pathway there. But we must take the theater to them, if we want to get people to come.”
To learn more, visit https://catf.org/.
- CATF Director of Marketing & Communications Gabrielle Tokach welcomes a couple of theater goers to Studio 112, for the first performance of “Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance” on Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
- CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen chats with attendees of the first showing of “Your Name Means Dream” in the Marinoff Theater last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
- Audience members wait in anticipation for the start of the first performance of “Your Name Means Dream” in the Marinoff Theater last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
- A couple of Contemporary American Theater Festival attendees walk up to Studio 112 for the first performance of “Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance” last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston
- The stage is set for the first performance of the world premiere of “Redeemed” on Saturday afternoon in the Marinoff Theater. Tabitha Johnston

The stage is set for the first performance of the world premiere of "Redeemed" on Saturday afternoon in the Marinoff Theater. Tabitha Johnston

CATF Director of Marketing & Communications Gabrielle Tokach welcomes a couple of theater goers to Studio 112, for the first performance of "Spiritus/Virgil's Dance" on Friday night. Tabitha Johnston