Founded 1984 | ||
CATCO (formerly known as Contemporary American Theatre Company) is a regional professional theatre company in Columbus, Ohio. Operating under an Actors' Equity SPT 6+ contract, it produces a five- to six-show season that commonly runs from October through June and consists of contemporary, classic, and new works.
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In January 1985, founding artistic director Geoffrey Nelson financed a production of Bill C. Davis's Mass Appeal at the YWCA under the company name Columbus Theatre Project. In 1986, CATCO was incorporated as a non-profit and the company converted a warehouse on Park Street in the Short North to a theatre. The Park Street location remained CATCO's home until 1997 when CATCO became a resident theatre company in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts in downtown Columbus.
CATCO produces a biennial Shorts Festival. The company chooses a common setting (recent settings include a gate at Port Columbus International Airport and a suite in the Great Southern Hotel) and accepts previously unproduced 10- to 15-minute plays. According to the company's 2006 call for submissions, "Playwrights who are Ohio residents or who have Ohio roots will be given preference, but any author may submit his/her work."