# Catherine Eaton

Catherine Eaton is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in the original Broadway company of Sharr White’s The Snow Geese at Manhattan Theater Club. In 2019 she appeared in Ella Hickson’s play Oil at the Olney Theatre Center, for which she was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play.
In 2008 she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary for Deadly Brew: The Human Toll for Ethanol, which aired on Bloomberg Television. In 2017 she wrote, directed, and starred in her first narrative feature, The Sounding, which received over two dozen awards and nominations on the festival circuit. Eaton regularly teaches directing and screenwriting at Harvard Summer School.

## Early life and education

Catherine Eaton was born and raised in Essex Junction, Vermont. She earned a BA in International Law from Cornell University, and an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota. She is a graduate of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, England.

## Career

Eaton made her professional stage debut in 1998 as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Guthrie Theater, directed by Joe Dowling. She would go on to spend three seasons as a resident company member, appearing in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Carlo Goldoni's The Venetian Twins, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In 2000 Eaton reprised her role in A Midsummer Night's Dream for a Guthrie Theater National Tour.
In 2004 Eaton made her Off-Broadway debut as Anna/Sister Margaret in Thomas Gibbon's Bee-Luther-Hatchee at Blue Heron Theatre. That same year she appeared as Adriana in William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors at the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival. The following year she appeared as Frances in Vincent Sessa's A Child's Guide to Innocence at New Jersey Repertory Theater, and Lily in Brian Delaney's The Cobbler at the Irish Classical Theatre in Buffalo, NY. The latter performance earned her a Katharine Cornell Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Visiting Artist at the 2005 Artie Awards, presented by Buffalo Toronto Public Media. In 2006 Eaton appeared as Caroline in the American premiere of Samuel Adamson's Clocks and Whistles at Origin Theatre Company. The following year she returned to the Irish Classical Theatre to star as Josie in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten. She would return to the Irish Classical Theatre once more in 2009 to portray the titular role in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. The following year she collaborated again with Irish playwright Brian Delaney, appearing in his play The Bohemians at Carnegie Hall.
In 2011 she appeared as Allie in Bob Clyman's The Exceptionals at Merrimack Repertory Theatre; as Anna in Joseph Lauinger's Michael Archangel at Fulton Theatre; and as the titular role in Sophocles' Electra at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. For her performance in the former she earned a Best Actress nomination at the 2012 IRNE Awards. The following year she portrayed Karen Weston in Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize winning August: Osage County at Fulton Theatre. Eaton made her Broadway debut in 2013 in Sharr White's The Snow Geese at Manhattan Theatre Club, understudying the roles of Elizabeth Gaesling and Clarissa Hohmann for Mary Louise Parker and Victoria Clark, respectively. Five years later, in 2018 she appeared May in the American premiere of Ella Hickson's Oil at the Olney Theatre Center. For her turn she earned a nomination for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play at the 2019 Helen Hayes Awards.
In addition to her work on stage, Eaton's film credits include With or Without You (1998), The Tempest (2001), and Last Seen (2002). Her television credits include All My Children, Person of Interest, and Switch. In 2018 she appeared in a four part VR adaptation of Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. Part one debuted at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, while part four premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival. The series was subsequently distributed by Samsung.

### Corsetless

In 2005 Eaton relocated to her hometown of Essex Junction, Vermont to help care for her injured mother. While at home, she got the idea for a one-woman stage play. The result wasCorsetless, which tells the story of Liv, a brilliant yet misunderstood woman struggling for her freedom within a psychiatric institution. Confined and isolated, Liv refuses to abandon her unique voice, speaking only in the words of William Shakespeare, as she fiercely defends her sanity against the doctors determined to conceal her.
The play was first presented in 2006 with a staged reading at Lincoln Center Theatre, directed by Austin Pendleton. It was subsequently produced in 2007 by the Irish Classical Theatre in Buffalo, New York, directed by Derek Campbell. Corsetless later played a sold-out Carnegie Hall in 2008, accompanied by an original score from award-winning concert pianist, Elaine Kwon. Later that year the play had a ten venue national tour throughout Ireland. Corsetless would later be adapted for screen, resulting in Eaton's 2017 feature The Sounding.

### The Sounding

In 2010 Eaton was approached by John Knowles about staging Corsetless as an instillation piece in the glassed-in storefront space of the Roger Smith Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. While hesitant at first, Eaton was subsequently convinced, and one year later the instillation became a cult hit, routinely drawing crowds large enough to create a public safety hazard. During this run of the play, Eaton recalled
   Every night this man would come in a tuxedo that I thought was a caterer because I didn’t know anyone else who would wear a tuxedo every day. He would sometimes come alone and sometimes with his family and he always had a peach colored Financial Times under his arm, so the guys in the back jokingly called him “the Financier.” They’d say, “Oh. Has the Financier come tonight?” On the last night of the play he waited for me afterwards and said, “I want to turn your play into a feature film.” He became the first investor and literally changed my life.
Corsetless was subsequently re-worked into a 2015 short film, which served as a proof of concept for the 2017 feature length film. Eaton would document this incremental process from stage to screen in a panel at the 2016 SXSW Festival entitled “Through Our Eyes: Female Filmmakers Tell All.” In 2018 the making of The Sounding would become the subject of a branded mini-doc by Stella Artois entitled “The Art of Living: Catherine Eaton,” which aired on Hulu.
The Sounding premiered in competition at the 2017 Cinequest Film Festival, and went on to receive over two dozen awards and nominations on the festival circuit. The film was subsequently distributed by Giant Pictures and HBO Europe.

### Directing

After 2015, Eaton began to concentrate on writing and directing for film, television, and radio. In 2016, she was awarded a "Through Her Lens" Grant from the Tribeca Film Institute / Chanel for her pilot "On The Outs." The following year she was selected as a shadowing director for Ryan Murphy's "Half Program," working on the first season of the hit Fox series 9-1-1. In 2019 her pilot "Breaking News" - based on her personal experience working with freelance news crews in conflict zones – was selected for The Gotham Film & Media Institute's Independent Film Week Project Forum, and named a finalist for the Sundance Institute's Television Lab. In 2023 her pilot "Flawless: A Feminist Fairytale" was awarded Best TV Screenplay at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Additionally, Eaton is a Statera Mentee under Showrunner Kit Steinkellner, and an inaugural Avalon: Story Fellow. Since 2020 she has served as a writer and director for Next Chapter Podcasts, where she has directed seven fiction episodes and written/adapted 75+ episodes in collaboration with Marcus Gardley, Jeff Whitty, and others.

## Personal life

Eaton is of mixed European and Native American ancestry. In 2023 she wan named an inaugural filmmaker of reGen media, "the first and only Indigenous owned and women led" film incubator of its kind.

## Acting credits
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1998 | With or Without You | Zanne |
| 2001 | The Tempest | Venus |
| 2002 | Last Seen | Kelly Ann |
| 2017 | The Sounding | Olivia |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | All My Children | Sherry | Recurring, Season 38 |
| 2013 | Person of Interest | Jillian | Episode: "Reasonable Doubt" |
| 2018 | The Interpretation Of Dreams | Various | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Switch | Belladonna | 7 episodes |

### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Playwright | Venue |
| 1998 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania | William Shakespeare | Guthrie Theater |
| 1998 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Miss Prism | Oscar Wilde | Guthrie Theater |
| 1998 | The Venetian Twins | Rosaura | Carlo Goldoni / Kevin Kling | Guthrie Theater |
| 1998 | A Christmas Carol | Mrs. Cratchit | Charles Dickens | Guthrie Theater |
| 1999 | Julius Caesar | Calpurnia | William Shakespeare | Guthrie Theater |
| 2000 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania | William Shakespeare | National Tour |
| 2004 | The Comedy of Errors | Adriana | William Shakespeare | Hamptons Shakespeare Festival |
| 2004 | Bee-Luther-Hatchee | Anna/Sister Margaret | Thomas Gibbons | Blue Heron Theatre |
| 2005 | A Child's Guide to Innocence | Frances | Vincent Sessa | New Jersey Repertory Theater |
| 2005 | The Cobbler | Lily | Brian Delaney | Irish Classical Theatre |
| 2006 | Clocks and Whistles | Caroline | Samuel Adamson | Origin Theatre Company |
| 2007 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie | Eugene O'Neill | Irish Classical Theatre |
| 2007 | Corsetless | Liv | Catherine Eaton | Irish Classical Theatre |
| 2008 | Corsetless | Liv | Catherine Eaton | Carnegie Hall |
| 2009 | Corsetless | Liv | Catherine Eaton | Irish National Tour |
| 2009 | Hedda Gabler | Hedda Gabler | Henrik Ibsen / Andrew Upton | Irish Classical Theatre |
| 2010 | The Bohemians | Woman | Brian Delaney | Carnegie Hall |
| 2011 | The Exceptionals | Allie | Bob Clyman | Merrimack Repertory Theater |
| 2011 | Michael Archangel | Anna | Joseph Lauinger | Fulton Theatre |
| 2011 | Electra | Electra / Frank McGuinness | Sophocles | Pittsburgh Public Theater |
| 2012 | August: Osage County | Karen Weston | Tracy Letts | Fulton Theatre |
| 2012 | Corsetless | Liv | Catherine Eaton | Roger Smith Hotel |
| 2013 | The Snow Geese | Elizabeth Gaesling / Clarissa Hohmann (u/s) | Sharr White | Manhattan Theatre Club |
| 2019 | Oil | May | Ella Hickson | Olney Theatre Center |

## Filmmaking credits

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 2008 | Deadly Brew: The Human Toll for Ethanol | No | Yes | Yes | Bloomberg Television |
| 2017 | The Sounding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Giant Pictures / HBO Europe |
| 2025 | The Mohawk Trail † | No | Yes | No | Post-production |
| TBA | The Control Room † | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pre-production |
Key :
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |

## Awards

| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
| 2005 | Artie Awards | Katharine Cornell Award | The Cobbler | Won |
| 2008 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Documentary | Deadly Brew: The Human Toll for Ethanol | Won |
| 2009 | New York Foundation for the Arts | Artist Fellowship | Corsetless | Won |
| 2012 | IRNE Awards | Best Actress | The Exceptionals | Nominated |
| 2016 | Tribeca Film Institute | Through Her Lens | On The Outs | Won |
| 2016 | Tribeca Film Institute | IWC Filmmaker Award | The Sounding | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival | Feature Film - Drama | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2017 | Palm Beach International Film Festival | Jury Prize - Best Narrative Feature Film | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival | Jury Prize - Best Narrative Feature Film | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival | New American Visions Audience Award | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Arizona International Film Festival | Grand Prize | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Brooklyn Film Festival | Audience Choice - Best Narrative Feature Film | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Brooklyn Film Festival | Best New Voice | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Maine International Film Festival | Audience Choice - Best Film | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Woods Hole Film Festival | Best Feature Drama | The Sounding | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Stony Brook Film Festival | Jury Prize - Best Narrative Feature Film | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival | Best Feature Film | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2017 | Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival | Best Screenplay | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2017 | Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival | Best Actress | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2017 | Buffalo International Film Festival | Best Feature | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2017 | Woodstock Film Festival | Best Cinematography | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | YES Film Festival | Grand Prize | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Naples International Film Festival | Audience Choice - Best Film | The Sounding | Won |
| 2017 | Denver Film Festival | Women+Film, Best Feature Film | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2017 | Napa Valley Film Festival | Best Actress | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2018 | Oxford International Film Festival | Best Narrative Feature | The Sounding | Won |
| 2018 | Oxford International Film Festival | Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award | The Sounding | Won |
| 2018 | Manchester Film Festival | Best Actress | The Sounding | Won |
| 2018 | Santa Fe Film Festival | Grand Prize | The Sounding | Won |
| 2018 | Galway Film Fleadh | Best International Feature Film | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2019 | Helen Hayes Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance | Oil | Nominated |
| 2020 | Humanitas Prize | SAMHSA Voice Award | The Sounding | Nominated |
| 2023 | Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Best TV Screenplay | Flawless: A Feminist Fairytale | Won |