Cathy Stubington is a community based artist and puppet maker. She is the Artistic Director of Runaway Moon Theatre, where she initiates large-scale theatrical performances exploring the water, land, farming, and birds in her home of Enderby, B.C. The Grandmothers of Splatsin have named her T’uctwes re S’t’l’calcw, “Flying Spirit”.
Cathy began creating puppet theatre with Picardi Marionette Theatre in Montreal. She came to B.C. in 1987 to the Caravan Farm Theatre where several of her puppet plays were produced. In 1997, Cathy initiated the Enderby and District Community Play Not the Way I Heard It, working with director Jimmy Tait and Rosalind Williams, whose Secwepemc name is “Tswum,” and is a storyteller and knowledge keeper of the Splatsin nation
Cathy documented her work in the Community Play in the short film Something from Nothing. Following the success of this production, Runaway Moon Theatre was incorporated in 2000. Their puppet theatre has a distinctive style involving puppets and actors together on stage, with a finely crafted grassroots aesthetic.
Cathy’s recent work includes developing cross-cultural curriculum with Rosalind Williams, spending time in schools with ArtsStarts Infusion, and finding arts-based ways to explore the sequence of events in nature.
Links and Publications
Cathy Stubington at the Salmon Arm Art Gallery (Okanagan Art Review, 2015)
Puppets, Peonies, and Community Plays (Video, Cathy Stubington describes some of her puppet work from her exhibition at the Salmon Arm Art Gallery, 2015)