Meet Katherine Dubois Reed

We were lucky to catch up with Katherine Dubois Reed recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katherine Dubois, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I find it an interesting paradox that playing a character onstage (pretending to be someone you’re not) makes you more comfortable being yourself. I’ve seen it in myself; I’ve seen it in my children; and I’ve seen it in actors of all ages that I’ve worked with. It’s not universally true, of course, but so many times I’ve seen theatre experience make people more confident and less self-conscious. And I think it’s the experience itself, the community that’s created, the skills that are honed, that builds this confidence; and not success as measured by money, fame, or leading roles. I have been paid small stipends at times for acting or directing, I have been paid royalties for productions of my plays, I have actually had strangers stop me in public to say they enjoyed my performance in a show; but that’s not where the confidence comes from. It comes from getting involved with other theatre artists and creating something that only exists in the moment that it’s created, and that contains its own unity and energy.
I’ve been a member of The Upstart Crow Theatre Company (TUC) in Boulder from its beginnings (we’re now in our 44th season). We do classics: language-driven plays that have stood the test of time. I know that acting in (and occasionally directing) really great plays has given me confidence as a writer. It even gave me the nerve to include a humorous play-within-a-play at the end of Love’s Labor’s Won (my take on what Shakespeare’s sequel to Love’s Labour’s Lost – if he ever wrote one – might have looked like. With the bad puns, but without the blank verse.) I can’t claim it’s as funny as Pyramus and Thisbe – because nothing ever written for stage is as funny as Pyramus and Thisbe – but it was a lot of fun. When I directed The Dover Road (by A.A. Milne) with TUC this past summer, I wasn’t afraid to take artistic risks and ask my actors to dance, juggle, and play kazoos.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

As I said above, I’ve been a member of Boulder’s Upstart Crow Theatre Company for four and a half decades. Locally, I’ve also worked with Theater Company of Lafayette. With the Crow, I’ve acted in 75 productions and directed or assistant-directed another nine. Occasionally I serve as music director for a production, not to mention helping with costumes, occasional set painting, and even publicity. As a playwright, I’ve had 60 of my plays (ten-minute, one-act, and full-length) presented to the public in 170 readings and productions in school, community, professional, and online venues. Nine of my plays for young actors have been published. I’ve written short plays for Theater Company of Lafayette’s Holidazed and Confused festival in 2019, 2021, and 2023. I tend to write comedies (laughter is so good for all of us), but I’m currently doing the final rewrites on a new adaptation of Euripides’ Medea, for which I’ve also written music.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think it’s always important to keep learning. One of the things I love about theatre is that it’s intergenerational, and learning can always go both ways. I think keeping a sense of fun helps me cultivate joy. I’ve also discovered, over the years, that small, everyday things can bring a sense of fulfillment if you notice and cherish them.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was always to take an interest in the things I (and my sibs) were doing, and supporting our interests and passions. Their style was different: my mother would gush and brim over with enthusiasm, while my father would greet any big news I brought home with, “That’s nice, dear.” But what they were both saying was that they were proud of me and always there for me. They attended performances and other events, read what I’d written, and didn’t grudge time devoted to my activities. They’re both gone now, but when my mom moved to New Mexico a few years after my dad died, she didn’t think anything of hopping in her car and driving to Boulder to see me in a show.

Image Credits

The Upstart Crow Theatre Company