Cathy Earnest

The CCM Summer Playwrights Conference

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Cathy Earnest has taught and studied literature throughout the city and has had some remarkable playwriting accomplishments. In May of 2016, Cathy Earnest of Chicago was invited to the CCM Summer Playwrights Conference at the University of Cincinnati to be a member of the staff.

The CCM playwrights conference is an event that is open to playwrights of all experience levels and has them learning from professionals in the industry to enhance their writing skills. The conference provides opportunities for writing, training, and performance for people who attend.

The CCM workshop has two different tracks. If a writer comes with their own script, they will be sent through the development track, which will help them develop and enhance their script throughout the week. The fundamentals track is also available for those without their own works, and this will give writers the opportunity to learn the core fundamentals of writing a play.

Every night, aspiring playwrights can hear their scripts read during a reading session by the staff. At the end of the conference, every attendee who has their own script can see a 10-minute performance on stage put on by the conference staff. This will give the writers the ability to view their play as more than a script.

Petula Clark’s Life in Film and Music

Chicago resident and playwright Cathy Earnest has authored stage plays such as Another Bone (2012) and her ongoing work, The Bicycle. She has also taught college-level literature and writing at institutions such as DePaul University in Chicago. Outside of the theater, Cathy Earnest is a pianist with an ensemble group though the Old Town School of Folk Music. The school recently paid homage to the music of prolific British singer Petula Clark.

Petula Clark is most widely known for her rendition of the song ‘I Know a Place’ (1965), but the performer’s career in entertainment spans several decades. Much of Ms. Clark’s early work was defined by the films that she made as a teenager and as a child actor. In total, she played 30 roles in films including Medal for the General (1944), I Know Where I Am Going (1945), London Town (1946), and The Hugget Family Films (1948-1949), among others.

Her early career also involved music. Her first gig was for WWII troops where she sang over radio broadcasts and in concert. In 1942, she performed ‘Mighty Lak a Rose’ on the program It’s All Yours; the audience response was so great that she was asked to perform with stars such as Michael Redgrave and Vera Lynn at the London’s Prince Edward Theater, formerly the Queensbury All-Service Club. Petula Clark rose to such a level of fame that she was dubbed the British Shirley Temple.

After film, Petula Clark embarked on a full-time career in music where, over the course of 70 years, she has amassed a number of awards. Songs such as ‘Downtown’ and ‘Don’t Sleep in the Subway’ earned her Grammy nominations and awards in 1964, 1965, and 1967. She also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Film Musical 1969 for Finian’s Rainbow (1968). Outside of the US, Petula Clark has consistently won awards in Britain, France, and other countries.

To React and Act – A Platform for Escapism

Based in Chicago, Cathy Earnest is a dramatist with an extensive list of production credits and awards. A member of the Dramatist Guild of America (DG), Cathy Earnest is working on a play, The Bicycle, which takes place in Chicago in 1896.

Dramatist Guild of America places a spotlight on industry thought, and more recently, this was done in an article posted on the site regarding the theater’s purpose. The article was an excerpt from a round table that featured Eve Ensler, Ismail Khalid, and Lynn Nottage.

The article discussed politics in theater and its purpose. One of the featured guests mentioned how theater has always been a place for escapism. Escapism allows the audience to escape something or someone, which is a big part of political theater. More significantly, theater becomes the landscape for all things political and is also a space where audiences react and act. In some instances, the not-so-obvious political theater, the escapist theater, provides audiences with emotions that facilitate a reaction or action on the part of the audiences. The escapist theater is a catalyst to fueling emotions, which cannot be done when the audience overthinks and analyzes, as in the case with political theater.

A Look at the IACA’s Literary Awards Program

Accomplished playwright Cathy Earnest has taught and advised students at Chicago institutions that include DeVry, Depaul University, and the University of Illinois. Over the course of her career as a playwright in Chicago, Cathy Earnest has received numerous professional awards that include recognition as a finalist at The O’Neill and at Ashland. Moreover, she has received several grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) for fiction.

Since its founding in 1965 as a state agency, the IACA has worked to foster artistic creativity while building a more connected Illinois through the arts. The organization, which also advances art education, supports working artists by providing direct support and other professional opportunities.

Other IACA initiatives, such as the Literary Awards Program, promote greater awareness of non-commercial publishing in Illinois by recognizing writers within the state. By providing monetary awards to both writers and to the magazines that feature their work, the program raises awareness of living Illinois writers and supports their careers. Currently, the award consists of a $1,000 prize. For additional information on the program, visit http://www.arts.illinois.gov.

UIC Receives Funds from Davee Foundation for Scholarships

A member of the Dramatists Guild of America in New York City, Cathy Earnest stands out as a playwright and longtime member of the Chicago theater community. Before starting her career, Cathy Earnest earned a master of arts in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), which has announced an award from the Davee Foundation to provide English and history scholarships.

The Davee Foundation has granted UIC $3 million to distribute to history and English majors with financial need. The foundation, established 55 years ago, has provided some $176 million to the university over the past 25 years.

The Adeline Barry Davee and Ruth Dunbar Davee Scholarship Fund represent the final endowment grant of the foundation, which closed in December 2019. The university named the scholarship after the Davee sisters to honor their longtime support of the arts and sciences. UIC has selected two local students per year to receive the scholarship, which covered the full cost of attendance for up to five years.

Ensembles at the Old Town School of Folk Music

A playwright based out of Chicago, Cathy Earnest has earned honors for her work such as the play Another Bone. Alongside working on her next play, which is set in 1896 in Chicago and focuses on the role of bicycles in the women’s liberation movement, Cathy Earnest plays piano with a 60s ensemble group through the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Created to celebrate a diverse range of musical traditions, the Old Town School of Folk Music provides numerous educational opportunities. These include private lessons, workshops, and core skills classes, as well as open jams and artist residencies.

The Old Town School of Folk Music offers ensemble classes for those able to play an instrument at least an intermediate level. Each session, the organization features about 60 different ensemble opportunities. These range from the Afrobeat Ensemble to the Trad Jazz Ensemble. Some groups focus on a particular decade of music, while others play the music of a specific band.

For more information about becoming involved in an ensemble and to browse through the full list of current groups, visit www.oldtownschool.org/classes/adults/ensemble.