PLAY LAB 2026
Ancram Center presents its 7th edition of Play Lab which provides theatre artists of all practices with time, space and resources to develop a new, innovative theater project to be presented in the future at Ancram Center or elsewhere. Selected artists spend a week-long residency in Ancram that culminates with a work-in-progress showing. Throughout the residency, Ancram Center makes efforts to connect the artist with the community in meaningful ways through a combination of interactive workshops, open rehearsals, audience discussions, and more.
Play Lab 2026 is generously supported by Dan Sternberg & Debbie Cooper
CLARENCE, IN A PAUSE:
A LISTENING PARTY
Showings: Saturday, May 30 at 7:30pm & Sunday, May 31 at 4pm
Libretto by Taylor Mac
Music by Heather Christian
A new music work by MacArthur Fellows Taylor Mac and Heather Christian exploring radical empathy across the political divide. Ancram audiences are invited to a listening party featuring selections from the piece, followed by a conversation with the creators and a shared song — leaving the room de-escalated from the rhetoric of our polarization to the tempo and poetry of song.
Please note, this event is sold out.
Supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, as part of Defying Boundaries: MacArthur Fellows at 45. More information at macfound.org.
BE SAFE I LOVE YOU
Showing: Sunday, November 8 at 4pm
Book by Darrah Cloud
Music & Lyrics by Stephanie Salzman
A new music theater piece based on Cara Hoffman's novel, following Iraq war veteran Lauren Clay home to Watertown, New York, where her PTSD drives her to protect her family from an enemy only she can see. A story about class, loyalty, and the wars that follow soldiers home.
PREVIOUS PLAY LAB RESIDENCIES
(Click on the year for more info on the artists and their supported projects.)
2025
Blue Cowboy: David Cale
Framed: The Murder of Beulah Simons: Mary Murfitt
2024
Centuries: Kate Douglas, Matthew Dean Marsh & Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez
Conversations (working title): Martha Redbone & Aaron Whitby
The Last Day of Dorothy Lillian Phelps: Patricia Van Tassel
2023
You Don’t Know the Lonely One: David Cale, Matthew Dean Marsh & Dael Orlandersmith
Bullet: Seth McNeill
Cancer Cabaret: Maryann De Leo, Michael Inge, Christine Koenig & Emily Rubin
2022
Sunwatcher: Nina Dakin, Isabella Dawis, Tidtaya Sinutoke,
Poof!: Celeste Lecense
2021
Sunwatcher: Nina Dakin, Isabella Dawis & Tidtaya Sinutoke
Perennials: Kate Douglas, Matthew Dean Marsh, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez, Sylver Wallace
2020
None: A Practical Breviary: Heather Christian
Mother Hope: Mariah Ayscue
Live from Lodge 274: Auction Preview: Frank Boyd