Most Valuable Players
A Guide to Austin Stage Actors
Fri., Sept. 28, 2001
Katherine Catmull
On the scene since: 1983
MVP for: Subterranean Theatre Company, The Public Domain
Recent roles: Various, Raised by Lesbians, STC, 2001; Goneril, King Lear, PD, 2001; Laura, Fish, Aunt Lulu Plays, 2000; Jane, Body and Soul, STC, 2000; Li'l Bit, How I Learned to Drive, State Theater Co./STC, 2000; various, The Possibilities, PD, 2000; Rebecca, Ashes to Ashes, PD, 1999; Deborah, A Kind of Alaska, STC, 1999; Emma, Betrayal, PD, 1999.
Honors: Payne award, Body and Soul; Payne & Critics Table nominations, Ashes to Ashes; Payne & Critics Table nominations, A Kind of Alaska; Critics Table award & Payne nomination, Betrayal; Critics Table nomination, Duchess of Malfi.
When you see an actress embody a role so effortlessly, so comprehensively, it may be more poetry than craft. Or so it appears. Catmull puts herself entirely into her roles. An intelligent actress, Catmull takes great care with her characters, investing in them her detailed study and research to get to a natural reality. She was heartbreakingly lovely in Pinter's A Kind of Alaska, inquisitive and impassioned in Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, deep and soulful in Pinter's Betrayal. A long résumé includes work with Big State, Zachary Scott Theatre, Austin Shakespeare, and Frontera, plus many raucous comedies and wicked modern dramas with Subterranean, which she co-founded with actor-director husband Ken Webster. It's a testament to Catmull's exceptional range and maturity.
