From left, Marika Engelhardt, Stef Miller and Tim Decker -- the cast of "Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction)" -- share their experiences in Friday night's post-show discussion on the Shepherdstown Opera House stage. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — For the cast of Jeffrey Lieber’s world premiere of “Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction)” at the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF), developing a synergy amongst themselves was surprisingly easy. That may have been, in large part, thanks to the play’s director having an incredibly demanding schedule.

“In December, Peggy said, ‘Do you want to see this New Stages Festival at the Goodman? They have some great stuff!'” said CATF Managing Director Jeff Griffin, referring to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Ill. “On the second night, we heard this play. At half time, I turned to her and said, ‘The writing on this is really good in this play!’ At the end of it, I turned to her and she said, ‘You really want to do this play?’ And I said, ‘I do! Is it too late?'”

In spite of their love for the play, CATF Artistic Director Peggy McKowen and Griffin returned to Shepherdstown, without having pursued it. But after talking about it some more, they called Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Susan V. Booth about the possibility of CATF performing the world premiere of the play. Booth, who directed the play’s staged reading at the New Stages Festival, expressed her disappointment that she would not be able to direct the play for CATF, due to her directing a production of The Who’s Tommy this summer.

“Peggy said, ‘What if we rehearsed it in Chicago?’ And so, for the first time, CATF rehearsed a show in Chicago, which is where we found all of these fabulous actors. They’re all Chicago-based,” Griffin said, during a post-show discussion for the play in the Shepherdstown Opera House last Friday night.

“For us, this has just been what we called an ‘old-fashioned Chicago show’ — when we were younger, we would be doing something like this in the basement of a bar for 15 people,” said Tim Decker, who is playing the character of Zachary. “It’s just about relationships. It’s just basic and what feels like raw acting.”

Contemporary American Theater Festival staff and interns check in an attendee of last Friday night's performance of "Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction)" in the Shepherdstown Opera House. Tabitha Johnston

As longtime actors in the Chicago theater scene, the actors shared a surprising number of connections in common.

“I’ve known Tim since 1998, and we’ve never done a show together!” said Stef Tovar, who is playing the character of Miller. “He reached out to me on Facebook and said, ‘I hear you’re doing this show. If you are, you’re doing it with me.’ And I was like, ‘Yes!’ because I love him.”

“I did a show with her husband, Patrick, who is also a very talented actor,” Tovar said of the third member of the play’s ensemble, Marika Engelhardt, who is playing the character of Adele. “But we had never gotten to know each other before. I’d say we’ve known each other since 2019.”

After many more questions were answered by the cast, Griffin noted that post-show discussions like this are essential to refining a production.

“This is what we live for! The post-show is what CATF is all about — the audience is the last ingredient to make a new play,” Griffin said. “We cherish the feedback they give — the writers do, the actors do.”

Audience members find their seats in the sold-out performance of "Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction)" in the Shepherdstown Opera House last Friday night. Tabitha Johnston