Katherine Wilkinson '19 Directs Queer Climate-Doom Comedy, 'Bloom Bloom Pow'

Theatre alumna and Adjunct Assistant Professor Katherine Wilkinson ’19 is the director of the world premiere of Bloom Bloom Pow, a queer climate-doom comedy play. The show runs September 17–October 2 at The Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres. Written by queer playwright Genevieve Simon, Bloom Bloom Pow was inspired by the film, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the 2014 toxic tap water crisis in Toledo, Ohio.

The story centers around Mag, a nonbinary person in their twenties, who, upon returning to their conservative hometown in Ohio, faces a quite underwhelming queer scene—and an overwhelming mother. While Mag struggles to balance their needy mom, chatty co-workers, and disconcerting visions of ice caps melting and dead horses crying out from the bottom of a river, The Creature arrives. The Creature, an ancient underwater being, informs Mag of the algae taking over the town’s water supply. Bloom Bloom Pow elevates microorganisms, lessens the focus on humans, and presents moments of joy in the face of climate devastation. 

Katherine Wilkinson (she/they) is a queer director and performance artist, an alumna of the Directing Concentration, and a current faculty member in the Theatre Department. She works to create physically adventurous theatre through a queer lens, and she seeks out imagination, humor, and collaboration. Katherine is a current member of the 2020-2022 WP Theater Lab and a recent recipient of the OPERA America Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize. Katherine has developed work with New Ohio Theatre (Ice Factory), La Jolla Playhouse (WOW Festival), New Georges, Bedlam, BRIC, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Juilliard, Columbia Stages, SITI Company, The Tank, The Magic Theatre, Miami New Drama, and many more. She has worked in Associate and Assistant Director capacities for Professor Anne Bogart, Sam Gold, Whitney White, JoAnne Akalaitis, and Christopher Renshaw.