I am a clown, a witch, and a lost boy. Since 2013 I have collaborated in new play development, devising, TYA, TVY, and applied theatre. Throughout the years I have embodied a love of play combined with passionate conviction in the stories I am telling. One of my strengths is that I am able to quickly connect with others around me, with the story, and with my character.
I find myself questioning why we create art, what are we trying to say, and what do we owe each other? I have a strong desire to learn and develop new paths forward. As an air sign I am always trying to get clarity on the intentions, and the compass for how we create what we are creating. I find myself most interested in theatre that connects humans in growth and expansion together.
Acting Resume 2025:
Credited as Catie Councell in some of my work pre-2020.
Current Projects:
Lost Boys Lizzy May Makes A queer retelling of Peter Pan, based on 2+ years of devised work. | It’s free! Come and hang out with us!
Capsule: “Artists and Society” A celebration of Local Lab Company’s Season 4. Combining the generative ideas and creativity of the community gatherings throughout the past year, Capsule focuses on the questioning of the role of art and the artist in society. Through an immersive experience which will be inconveniently creative, and uncomfortably communal, those who show up will embody, question, play, and create within a new society.
Recent Projects:
Amplify Queer Joy Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble (CPTE) response to a time when queer lives and rights face growing threats across the country. Everyone has a story to tell. What if you could tell your story and watch it come to life before your eyes? This is an evening of storytelling and improvisational theatre that celebrates resilience and radical joy in the queer community. June 23, 2025.
Drink the Past Dry written and directed by Maria Burnham. Produced by Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre May 2025.
Set in a local Irish Chicago pub in Northcenter this new play focused on time traveling for things that are lost. (Photos by Maria Burnham)
Together We Rise Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble (CPTE) Everyone has a story to tell. What if you could tell your story and watch it come to life before your eyes? This is an evening of storytelling and improvisational theatre base on the stories of our communities. March 9th & 16th, 2025.
Red Kite Friendship Tour: Green Mountain Chicago Children’s Theatre‘s touring sensory friendly show for those on the Autism Spectrum. Join three actors as they hike up Green Mountain with music, puppetry, and a whole lot of audience interaction. Touring since 2023 in Chicago Parks, Chicago Children’s Museum, Public libraries, and for Autistic and early childhood communities.
Goodnight, Baby Bunny
Bunny is tired and needs to go to bed. But how does she get ready to do so? With help from the Moon, Mama Cat, and a whole lot of very young audience members, Baby Bunny is able to remember the rituals of bedtime.
Devised by Catherine Councell, Juliet Kang Huneke, and Anthony Whitson-Martini for Chicago Children’s Theatre. Fall 2024.
We Might Fall Apart
Directed by Vanessa Stalling, devised by the company of the Iowa Summer Rep 2018.
We Might Fall Apart was an ensemble-driven, devised work that explores the attempt to communicate effectively and make connections with one another. Based within the context of an empathy experiment the ensemble asks what fears and anxieties do we carry that keep us from hearing someone? How do we put those fears and anxieties aside to allow us space to hear each other? Finally, how does being heard allow us to make connections and avoid falling further apart?
Greatworks Theatre Tours
From 2022-2025 I was involved as a puppeteer and actor in Fractured Fairy Tales, Sleepy Hollow, the BFG, Number the Stars, and Christmas Carol.
New Play Development
Since 2010 I have collaborated in play writing labs, new play festivals, and staged readings. I was an actor in the 24 hour play festivals at UNC-G in 2010. While in undergrad at Brenau University I was part of the development of A Heart in Irons by Skye Passmore, Bra and Panty Club by Gay H Hammond, and some 24 Hour Play Festivals of new works. During my Acting Apprenticeship at Aurora Theatre I was part of development of a new musical called Milo at the Movies by Mark Gaylord and Tom Diggs in 2013. After moving to Atlanta, GA I worked with Working Title Playwrights and performed in their staged readings, and New Play Festivals. At the University of Iowa I performed weekly in the Playwrights Workshop as an actor, and was cast in two of the New Play Festivals in 2016 & 2017.
After moving to Chicago in 2018 I performed virtually with the Wayward Sisters Theatre, and The Women’s Theatre Alliance of Chicago in the 2020 New Play Festivals. I was also in the Aurora Theatre’s Digital Series of a new work, Homeschooled in 2020.
Currently I am collaborating with Lizzy May on a queer retelling of Peter Pan. This devised play has been touched by many in the queer and allied community, and is full of magic, queer crushes, gender fluidity, and the wonder of childhood. Performances of some of the scenes have been at Co-Prosperity Camp 2025, Theatre Y, and with Local Lab.
Some of the playwrights I have worked with include: Margot Connolly, Leah Roth Barsanti, Juliet Kang Huneke, Gay H Hammond, Mark Gaylord & Tom Diggs, Lisa Dellagrino Feriend, Sean Demers, Lupe Flores, Scott Bradley, Skye Passmore, Maria Burnham, Derek Dixon, and Lizzy May.
Catherine Councell 