Catherine Magruder

For nearly forty-five years I've worn various hats in service of place-based community storytelling, including writing and directing the following projects:

- Potter Valley History Plays, Part 1 & 2

- UpRooted; a play about the history of the timber industry in Mendocino County

- Telling the Truth in a Small Town; a multi-year program where local residents tell their own stories at the Ukiah Playhouse

- Stories from the Frolic; an original play about the ramifications of the crash of The Frolic, a brig filled with merchandise that shipwrecked off the Mendocino County coast in 1850

- The Good War Project; a multi-faceted community project examining the effects of WWII on a range of local residents. The project included a newspaper series of local interviews,

performances at Ukiah Playhouse featuring a variety of stories about WWII experiences, photo exhibitions and book discussions

- Of All Places: Stories of How and Why We're Here; a play based on the stories of the participants, interwoven with monologues

and scenes drawn from local history

- Promise of Paradise; an oral history-based project that explores the impact of the back to the land phenomenon on Mendocino County

I taught, co-wrote and co-directed summer camp intensives with colleagues Laurel Near and Paulette Arnold over a period of three decades . We created original musical theatre productions with students ages 8 - 18 and offered public performances at Ukiah Players Theatre and SPACE Theater.

I helped found this non-profit community theatre and worked collaboratively with my colleagues to stage plays and readings throughout Ukiah until we successfully built the Ukiah Playhouse

in 1982. From then on, I guided the theatre in a variety of roles, including Artistic Director, Community Development Director and Executive Director. I taught, directed and acted with the company, oversaw directors and designers each season, and created the budget for each year's season of plays. I wrote grants, managed volunteers, and worked with the Board of Directors to produce fundraising events.

Taught Acting and Oral Interpretation classes; directed full-stage productions and readings at the college Little Theater and the Center Theater.