The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) celebrated its 12th new play commission on Dec. 8 at the Christ Reformed United Church of Christ building in Shepherdstown. The commission was supported by the Marellen J. Aherne New Play Commissioning Fund. Marellen Aherne is the current president of CATF.

Earlier this year Christ Reformed, the oldest church in Shepherdstown, founded in 1747, donated its building to CATF. Peggy McKowen, CATF’s artistic director, is clear that she wants CATF to continue to use the building in a way that will benefit Shepherdstown and the surrounding communities.

The evening began with a reading of the first draft of “Our Shepherdstown” by Jeffrey Lieber. The play was inspired by Thornton Wilder’s classic “Our Town,” one of my favorite plays. Many of you may remember Jeffrey Lieber, as his play “Fever Dreams” was one of CATF’s plays during the 2023 season. I think the idea for the play was his, as he began to experience our Shepherdstown firsthand, while he was here collaborating with the director and actors and designers during the rehearsal for “Fever Dreams.” You may also know Jeffrey Lieber, as he is the co-creator of the ABC hit series, “Lost,” for which he won a Writer’s Guild of America award and was nominated for a primetime Emmy. He clearly loves Shepherdstown. For a moment, I thought he had moved here, as he played the role of narrator and was telling us what to expect from the performance.

Some of the actors were professionals including Ellis Greer, who locals know from “The Overview Effect” during the 2023 season, “Enough to Let the Light In” and “Loving, Longing, Leaving” during the fall play reading series. Locals may also have recognized Mary Fortuna, who lives part-time in the area, and has appeared locally at Wooly Mammoth, Round House and the Kennedy Center, and has also taught courses at Shepherd University’s Contemporary Theater Studies program. Richard Cooper, an actor from Charlottesville, Va., most recently participated in a lecture and poetry reading sponsored by CATF for all the student involved In the Black Men Read program. He read from a novel by Rita Williams Garcia about a Black boy their age, “Clayton Byrd Goes Underground.”

Throughout the reading, various townspeople appeared, much like in the original “Our Town.” Marellen Ahern, the first townsperson to appear, paid tribute to Jay Hurley. Fortunately, Jay had the opportunity to talk to Jeffrey Lieber before he died. Jay was one of the first people I met when my husband and I moved to Shepherdstown. His music on Thursday evenings was one of the joys of Shepherdstown that out-of-town people first mention when they talk about Shepherdstown. Jay was a role model for grace and goodness and sharing. As a way of bringing his former church building to life as the location for the play, Denny Barron tenderly described his memories of more than 60 years as a church member. Meredith Wait talked about the controversy at a local restaurant that led to one of her many walks up and down the street talking to local business owners who responded by displaying pride flags and LGBTQ signs in their windows. And Rachael Meads and Mayor Jim Auxer, who both know everybody and everything about Shepherdstown, could write their own play about the town. Mayor Auxer did a lot of research about the rationale for East German Street and West German Street, each two blocks long, which he promises to send to Jeffrey Lieber. Rachael would be a great narrator of the play but I think there will be competition.

A very special highlight of the evening was the music of The Asbury Church Christmas ensemble (Barbara Burger, Angela Burger, Kalynn Burger, Heranna Summerville and Melinda Grantham, accompanied by Jonathan Williams on the organ turned piano). I loved that they were actors in the play, and their rendition of “Amazing Grace” was very special.

I think the members of Christ Reformed would have been delighted that the evening ended with a delicious potluck supper enjoyed by all in the downstairs social hall of the church. I don’t know if potlucks originated in churches, but I do know that my mom and her friends organized many wonderful church dinners at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., where I grew up.

I wish the whole town could have gathered for the inaugural play reading. CATF prides itself in helping new playwrights develop their work and this was an opportunity to learn about this process. Fortunately, there was a second opportunity the next day to chat with Jeffrey Lieber and Peggy McKowen.

Keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming CATF and other community events at the church. I think it will once again become a town gathering place under the oversight of CATF.

Beth Batdorf, of Shepherdstown