Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Meehan.
Hi Kate, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I was around 5, my mother was working the spotlight for a local community theatre production of Cabaret. I went with her one night, and we packed a picnic and climbed into this dark, scary audience space that had been boarded up with only a little notch cut out for us and her massive spotlight. The orchestra started, there was a silence, and the spotlight came up on the Emcee – “Leave your troubles outside. So—life is disappointing? Forget it! In here, life is beautiful.” It was such a magical, theatrical moment, and I was immediately enamored.
I started doing theatre that year, often with my mom who also wrote and produced her own shows in a saloon in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. Working alongside my mother as she ran her own theatre company was really formative for me – I grew up understanding both the business and artistic elements of theatre production.
I went to an arts college in Chicago and had internships with Baliwick Repertory and Steppenwolf Theatres, and did a lot of improv with ImprovOlympic and Second City. I moved to Austin in 1999 and immediately jumped into the local theatre community – stage managing, performing, designing. I’ve managed a few theatre companies in Austin since arriving, but currently I’m pouring all my efforts into La Fenice, a physical theatre company that is focused on making theatre for people who, due to content, location, or ticket prices, have decided that theatre just isn’t for them.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh, I don’t think life would be very interesting if it were a smooth road.
My first theatre company in Austin was the Austin Commedia Society. It was a wonderful group of folks and the work we did was a lot of fun, but we all went our separate ways in 2003 to pursue grad school or having babies. I started another company, Coda Theatre Project, the following year that had a goal of radical collaboration – we worked with architects and painters and musicians to see if we could make a sort of whole art. After three years, we moved to create our own non-profit entity and some of the folks in the group used it as an opportunity to seize control, fire all the other artists, and use our work to get city grant funding. It was really disappointing across the board – more than anything, I felt like I failed the artists that I was working with in not setting up a process that ensured they and their work were protected from bad actors. The silver lining is I learned a lot about business ethics, getting things in writing, and the insurance of a really good sets of bylaws and contracts.
Those lessons learned were formative in the development of La Fenice, but it probably also made me more of a gatekeeper about who is brought to the table on our projects. The work we make is still radically collaborative – we write all of our own work and share ownership of our projects, but we continually gut check the participants to make sure that deep trust in each other is maintained.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Over the last thirty years, I’ve focused on Commedia dell’Arte, an Italian renaissance-era street theatre that was used to satirize the power structures within the community. It’s fast, it’s funny, and it’s developed for working people. I’m proud to have found a place in the international Commedia dell’Arte community, and am excited about the collaborations we’re doing on a global scale this year.
I’m working on a book on how to adapt the performance structure and stock characters of this old art form for the modern stage, and I’ll be traveling to Italy and Australia this year to teach and skill swap with other clever performers.
Our theatre company produces two kinds of shows: post modern versions of Commedia dell’Arte that dismantle pop culture in some way (we just finished a show that married Bridgerton with Sweeney Todd), and we partner with local silent improv troupe Golden: Silent Improvised Stories to produce immersive, site specific improvised shows that are sort of like a choose your own adventure, artsy haunted house. We’re really excited about our next show running at Austin’s very haunted Tavern in August around the creeping horror of HP Lovecraft.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Oh, wow. I’ve been so lucky to work with incredibly patient and generous people.
My mom, of course.
As a teenager, I was scooped up by an incredibly talented director named Randy Wyatt. He was easily one of the most brilliant directors I’ve ever worked with – his shows were always sumptuous and inventive, and he had a knack for drawing performances out of people. There is no reason why he should have invested so much time in me, but we worked together whenever we could and bounced ideas off of each other until his tragic passing a couple of years ago.
Aaron Johnson formed the Austin Commedia Society, and became a brother to me. We developed such a marvelous short-hand communication with each other over the two decades we performed together.
Similarly, I’m not sure where I would be without Adam Rodriguez. We started working together in 2004, and the two of us work hand in glove in developing stories and concepts for La Fenice. Really, the entire La Fenice company membership is such a gift. Each one of them brings raw talent and unfailing support for each other. You can’t buy that kind of joyful petri dish to cook up a show in.
And, obviously, my husband and kids. I met my husband, Brent, through Adam, and all of them understand that our house becomes something of a production sweatshop in the weeks leading up to a show’s opening. My daughter, Sharky, has also gotten involved in theatre and started producing work with a cohort of talented young people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lafeniceaustin.org
- Instagram: @lafeniceaustin
- Facebook: @lafeniceaustin
