She has seen theater from all sides—as performer, designer, teacher, and administrator. Margaret (Peggy) McKowen, associate producing director of Shepherdstown’s Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF), is well equipped to help steer the festival through another successful season.
McGowen grew up in theater, not in New York or Los Angeles, but in the small town of New Martinsville, W.Va. Her parents were from the Pittsburgh area and relocated because of her father’s work.
New Martinsville would seem to be an unlikely incubator for an artist, but McGowen says that growing up, her environment was culturally rich, thanks to her parents. Her mother came from a long line of artists—painters, architects, and theater people. Her father was not an artist but was supportive of the arts.
 “My mom created her own art scene,” said McKowen. “She was working in theater when I was born—she worked in local theater and taught children. From an early age, I was used to rehearsals, being on stage, and performing in shows.”
McKowen was always interested in theatrical design and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in design in the Division of Theatre and Dance at West Virginia University. She did graduate work in theater design at the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree. “They have a huge program, and they’re very competitive,” she explained, “and I wanted to get some sense of my skills in a really competitive environment.”
Actors, playwrights, and directors are the names recognized by audiences. However, McKowen explained how essential designers are to every theatrical production. “The designer works with the director and writer to translate visually the writer’s words and bring them to life,” she said.  She noted that design includes sets, lighting, sound, costumes, and, if there is dance, choreography.
McKowen’s career got underway with freelance design jobs in Dallas, Houston, and other Texas cities. She worked in productions of all kinds. “Early on, you take whatever work you can get,” she said. “You meet people, learn to juggle projects. I did all kinds of plays. Later, I went on to do a lot of Shakespeare.”
She moved on to teach design for six years at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. It was close enough to New York to allow her to keep up with her design work while teaching. “I did two or three shows every year in New York,” she said. 
She returned home to West Virginia to join the faculty of WVU. There, she taught theatrical design for 10 years, for 5 of which she served as chair of the Division of Theater and Dance.
McKowen has done design work, including costumes, lights, and sets, for over 100 productions across the United States, in Europe, and even China. Recently in California she designed an opera on the life of Jack London. She notes that in this stage of her career, she no longer has to search for work. It comes to her through her network of directors and other theater professionals.
McKowen joined CATF in January of this year. There are four year-round employees and an army of people who come and go with the productions, including the technical crews and actors. She led a tour behind the scenes, where set builders were welding, painting, and nailing, lights were being adjusted, wardrobe people were sewing, and props people were fabricating a stack of simulated books for one of the plays.
She manages the festival, working with producing director Ed Herendeen to maintain the vision of the festival. “I put everyone together,” she said. She works with technical director Patrick Wallace and the technical staff, does fundraising, and, “I deal with anything that goes through these doors,” she said with a smile.
She says that Herendeen does most of the reading for the selection of the next season’s plays, but she also reads and discusses the plays. She maintains that they are willing to embrace most subjects and controversial matters, but the plays must be well-crafted and deal with immediate issues of contemporary society.
She added, “They must have a sense of theatricality—that is, they can’t be something you could just sit down and read. And they have to be something we connect to as artists.”
McKowen is not doing any teaching at present. She said that there has been some talk of her possibly teaching a class in the future, and she doesn’t rule this out.
With her proximity to Washington, D.C., McKowen says that she would like to get some work in D.C. theater, but she noted that her network of connections doesn’t cover that area. “Now I would have to go around with my portfolio and show my work,” she said wryly. She is designing costumes for 1001, one of the plays in this season’s festival, and because theater people from D.C. attend the CATF, she is hopeful to connect with some who see her work. 
McKowen is happy to be able to do the quality of work she wants to do here in her home state. “It’s an exciting time to be with this company,” she said. “I’m open for whatever the future holds.”