CATCO (formerly known as Contemporary American Theatre Company) is a regional professional theatre company in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Operating under an

Actors' Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book ...

SPT 3+ contract, it produces a five- to six-show season that commonly runs from October through June and consists of contemporary, classic, and new works. In January 1985, founding

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

Geoffrey Nelson financed a production of Bill C. Davis's '' Mass Appeal'' at the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

under the company name Columbus Theatre Project.Grossberg, Michael. "Dramatic Flair." The Columbus Dispatch. D1-2; Sunday, July 11, 2004 In 1986, CATCO was incorporated as a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and the company converted a warehouse on Park Street in the

Short North The Short North is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, centered on the main strip of High Street immediately north of the Arena District and extending until just south of the University District and Ohio State University. It is an ea ...

to a theatre. The Park Street location remained CATCO's home until 1997 when CATCO became a resident theatre company in the

Vern Riffe Vernal G. Riffe Jr. (June 26, 1925 – July 31, 1997) was an American politician of the Democratic Party. Riffe served for many years in the Ohio House of Representatives and was the longest serving speaker of the Ohio House of Representativ ...

Center for Government and the Arts in downtown

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. CATCO produces an annual playwriting fellowship. According to the company's 2017 call for submissions, "

Playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

who are Franklin County residents will be given preference, but any

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

may submit his/her work."

Key staff

*Steven C. Anderson - Producing Director *Geoffrey Nelson – Artistic Director Emeritus
Joe Bishara
�� Associate Producing Director

Notable productions

* ''

The Last Smoker in America ''The Last Smoker in America'' is a four-character, one-act musical comedy featuring book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Peter Melnick.The Santaland Diaries "Santaland Diaries" is an essay by David Sedaris. It is a humorous account of Sedaris' stint working as a Christmas elf in "Santaland" at Macy's department store. Sedaris first read the essay on National Public Radio's ''Morning Edition'' on Dec ...

'' *''

The Exonerated ''The Exonerated'' is a made-for-cable television film that dramatizes the stories of six people, some of whom, were wrongfully convicted of murder and other offenses, placed on death row, and later exonerated and freed after serving varying ye ...

'' *''

The Pillowman ''The Pillowman'' is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read i ...

'' *" The Story of my Life" *" Evil Dead: The Musical" *" Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits: Volume One" *" Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" *"

Master Class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

External links

Contemporary American Theatre Company
Official Website

References

Regional theatre in the United States Theatrical organizations in the United States Theatre companies in Columbus, Ohio {{US-theater-stub