PITTSFIELD — Kate Maguire comes from a family of police officers who had the best interest of the community at heart.

Maguire didn’t gravitate toward law enforcement, but she does help the community, in her own way. 

She is the artistic director and CEO of Berkshire Theatre Group, which formed in 2010 when the Berkshire Theatre Festival merged with the Colonial Theatre. But BTF’s roots date back to 1928, making it one of the oldest theater companies in the Berkshires, and one with a tradition of serving the community. And that’s a task that Maguire takes seriously.

We talked with Maguire recently about her background and her career in the performing arts.

THE EAGLE: I know that you grew up in Lowell and that your dad was a cop. So how did you end up in the performing arts? 

MAGUIRE: My mother was from a Greek immigrant family. None of the kids could speak English when they went to school. So when I was 4 she sent me off to elocution and drama lessons because she wanted me to be able to speak well and clearly, and articulate well. It was pretty brilliant when you think about it because that’s what we do here when we’re working with kids. We’re helping them tell their stories clearly and my mother understood that there was power in good communication.

I did not hear that story until right before she died, which was about 10 years ago, because when I was growing up she told me that she had sent me off so I could learn to control myself (laughs). She married my father (Jimmy Maguire), who was an Irish cop.

When I look back it all makes kind of sense now, because my father was the kind of cop who was one of the neighborhood cops. He started one of the first family crisis units in the state of Massachusetts.

THE EAGLE: Was law enforcement a big part of your family? 

MAGUIRE: Everyone in his family were cops. My aunt was the first female police officer in the state. My grandfather, my great uncle, they were all cops. But my father and my aunt in particular were devoted to public service and so when I started to think about my history I thought, “Well, of course I would wind up in a not-for-profit world trying to serve a community and not just stand on the stage.

THE EAGLE: What was it about the theater that pulled you in?

MAGUIRE: I do think it was my mother saying to me that she wanted a place where she could kind of contain who I was. I think that the theater didn’t necessarily contain me but it helped me be comfortable in who I was.

THE EAGLE: How did it do that?

MAGUIRE: Well, because we take everyone in the theater. We’re a pretty open-door place. Equal opportunity, everyone is really accepted. How could they not be because we’re trying to create a world on stage when you can look at all of humanity, and I was comfortable in the theater.

THE EAGLE: I know you started as a performer. How did you go from being an actor to the management side of the arts?

MAGUIRE: I graduated from Boston College I got married and I had identical twins. All by the time I was 25. And I was performing but I needed a way to make money so I just began training myself in other parts of the theater, box office, press, marketing, fundraising and I just moved around. I worked in most parts of the theater. Nobody asked me to go backstage to build a set, but otherwise I worked in all the areas.

THE EAGLE: Did you major in dramatic arts at BC?

MAGUIRE: I majored in English. My mother thought I was going to be a teacher. She really was not planning on this (laughs).

THE EAGLE: Did you find managing a theater as stimulating as acting?

MAGUIRE: Yeah, I did. I remember talking with a producer in New York and he said, “I just love standing in the back of the theater and watching the audience.”  And that’s exactly what I love the most. I like being on stage although I don’t need it like I did at one point. But I like standing in the back of a house and watching an audience. I love it.

THE EAGLE: Why does that give you so much satisfaction?

MAGUIRE: Because the whole room can change. You can change people in the course of two hours. You can change their state of mind. You can change their hearts. It’s a pretty remarkable thing to see people walk in the theater turning off their cellphones. They’ve been dealing with their kids or what they just ate or the lack of parking or whatever and at the end of the show they’re in a completely different mindset. That’s powerful. So that’s interesting to me.

THE EAGLE: What do you like better; acting or management?

MAGUIRE: I love acting because every time I do it I’m reminded about why it’s important, and also because it’s so good to be with fellow actors. But I reached a point in my life where I realized where I can help — it sounds arrogant in a way —  I can help to transform a community. That feels bigger and there are a lot of wonderful actors so it’s not so hard for me to step aside.

THE EAGLE: What do you mean?

MAGUIRE: We were just talking about “A Christmas Carol” (Berkshire Theatre Group puts on the show at the Colonial Theatre every holiday season, and children in the community play some of the parts). Those kids that are in there have been with us for years. Some of them are on tour with us right now. Every Friday they were let out of their classes to perform. The kids’ lives have been changed. One of the kids that works with us after COVID came up to me and said, “I just need you to know that this saved my life. I was completely isolated during COVID and being back has just saved me.”

THE EAGLE: That must make you feel…

MAGUIRE: Oh God! I just remember looking at him and tearing up and thinking about this young person… also, we just came from having lunch at Patrick’s [Pub]. I know Patrick’s is filled up when the theater is going on, so there’s an economic force that is driven by the arts. I just think that the arts are central to a civilized society. Especially these days.

THE EAGLE: Especially with what’s going on.

MAGUIRE: I mean where is there a safe place to talk about all this stuff? That is the point.

THE EAGLE: We have lots of other theater companies in Berkshires, but you run a legacy company that’s nearing its centennial anniversary. What’s it like being in charge of a theater company with that kind of reputation?

MAGUIRE: The sense of responsibility is greater because there is that legacy. 

THE EAGLE: What does that mean?

MAGUIRE: I mean I was not going to be the artistic director that had an asterisk after her name [if the company closed]. Not if the theater is 100 years old and I’ve been here for almost 30 years. That’s a large part of that history. So I have a responsibility to make sure that we get to the next [level].

When people said [during COVID in 2020] that we have to cut back, we’re not going to be able to continue, we’re not going to do a season, I said, “No, that can’t happen here. It’s never happened.”

Through the wars, the Depression, everything. The theater had seasons. So I feel a sense of responsibility. But the bigger part of it is we have to have our doors open especially during times like these to give people some relief.

THE EAGLE: You’ve served in this position since 1995. How much longer are you going to do this?

MAGUIRE: Well, I don’t know. I know that I want to get the theater to 100 and that’s 2028.

THE EAGLE: What advice would you give to somebody who wanted to follow in your footsteps?

MAGUIRE:  The kind of advice I give to people doesn’t usually have to do with, “Yeah, you go for it or don’t go for it.” I usually say the road is not going to be easy and I tell them to make sure that they take care of their personal life as well. I tell them to train in as many areas as they can. I tell them that it’s important to learn how to fundraise. That’s something I never said in years past (laughs).

I think they really need to have a profound passion or else they’re not going to succeed.