July 11 - 13 & July 17 - 20
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30pm
Sunday at 3pm
at Ancram Center for the Arts

By Jeff Augustin
Music by The Bengsons
Directed by Christopher Windom

generously supported by
Jane Plasman

Lyrical story-telling and live folk songs weave a tale of searching and longing, family and legacy. A Haitian man and his wife, expecting their first child, travel from Miami to California on a once-in-a-lifetime road trip. Years later, their gay son travels the same route in reverse. Does re-tracing the steps of those that come before us help us learn who they were? As their respective journeys unfold, time becomes fluid, the father and son forge a connection that had eluded them for years, and they find comfort in their shared and separate identity.

Cast
Tai Bennett
Kristofer Wilson

Musicians
Andy Stack
Kaia Dedek

Creative & Production Team
Evan Anderson, lighting design
Jacob Climer, scenic & costume design
Liz Connell, technical director
Karie Koppel, casting director
Elizabeth Ramsay, stage manager

“It’s a lyrical play about fathers and sons, first and foremost. But it’s also about the immigrant experience and sexuality. Identity and self-reflection. Grief and release. A lot of terrain, in other words. But isn’t that what road trips are for?” —Washington Post

“Migration doesn’t necessarily have a set endpoint. Looking for belonging in an unfamiliar place, and lingering over memories of what’s been left behind, can result in a perpetually itinerant state of mind. For the Haitian schoolteacher who legally gains passage to the United States in ‘Where the Mountain Meets the Sea,’ that means giving up a fulfilling vocation to handle strangers’ baggage at the Miami airport while hoping to find love and start a family.” —Naveen Kumar, The New York Times

 “…spare, soulful songs frame and enliven the actors’ alternating monologues…” —The New Yorker

“A poignant, beautiful musical of parallel journeys” —theaterwashington.org

JEFF AUGUSTIN is a Haitian-American playwright. His plays include Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club, Humana Festival of New American Plays); The New Englanders(Manhattan Theatre Club); Little Children Dream of God (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Last Tiger in Haiti (La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Rep), and Cry Old Kingdom (Humana Festival). He translated Our Town into Haitian Creole for Miami New Drama’s multilingual production. Jeff was the Shank Playwright-in-Residence at Playwrights Horizons and the inaugural Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout. He is an alumni of the New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship; Rita Goldberg Playwright’s Workshop at the Lark; and The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm. Jeff is currently under commission from Manhattan Theatre Club and La Jolla Playhouse. TV Credits: Claws (TNT); The Morning Show (Apple); The Good Lord Bird(Showtime), and Saint X (Hulu). Current projects in development with Apple, Hulu, and Element Pictures. BA: Boston College, MFA: UC San Diego. www.jeffaugustin.com

ABIGAIL and SHAUN BENGSON are a married composing and performing duo raising two children in Queens! They believe grief and joy are the same thing. They are interested in anything that gets us all free. Their video for “The Keep Going Song” has been viewed over 4 million times, and three of their singles have been featured on So You Think You Can Dance (FOX). The Bengsons' theater work includes Sovereignty Hymns (La Jolla Playhouse), The Keep Going Songs (LCT3, Actors Theatre of Louisville), My Joy Is Heavy (Arena Stage), Hundred Days (La Jolla Playhouse, New York Theatre Workshop, U.S. Tour), The Lucky Ones(Ars Nova), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (ATL’s Humana Festival; Manhattan Theatre Club), Anything That Gives Off Light (Edinburgh Theatre Festival), You’ll Still Call Me By Name (New York Live Arts, Jacob's Pillow), and Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic Stage Company). They have received the Jonathan Larson and Richard Rodgers Awards and nominations for the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel Awards.

CHRISTOPHER WINDOM choreographed the feature film RESPECT for MGM, starring Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin. Off-Broadway: Choreographer, Kid Victory (The Vineyard Theatre) Regional Theaters: Director: Confederates (Playmakers Rep); Fences, Fairview, A Christmas Carol (Trinity Repertory Company); Light It Up! (Cleveland Play House); Annie (Alabama Shakespeare Festival).Choreographer: Beautiful (Marriott Theatre); Cabaret (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Melancholy Play (Trinity Repertory Company); Les Miserables (Dallas Theatre Center); Frozen: Live at the Hyperion for Disney Resorts. He was the Drama League Fellow Assistant Director for the Broadway production of Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus (HAIR, Waitress, Porgy & Bess). He was Associate Director for the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, directed/choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In The Heights, Bandstand). Christopher has performed on Broadway and National Tours of Fosse and Damn Yankees starring Jerry Lewis. Member of SDC, and a Drama League Fellow. MFA, Brown/Trinity.

KRISTOFER RYAN WILSON (he/him) is a North Carolina born-and-raised actor based in New York City. He is stoked to be making his Ancram debut! Credits: Confederates (PlayMakers Repertory Company); The Comedy of Errors, The Winter's Tale, OAK (Shakespeare & Company); Vegetarian (Citizen Arts & Education); Romeo & Juliet: An Exploratory Lab (Lucien Theatre Company, Founding Member). Thanks to God, my family, my friends and every teacher on the journey. Education: NYU Tisch - Stella Adler Studio of Acting | www.kristoferwilson.com

After thriving as a sideman musician in the NYC music scene, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist ANDY STACK heeded the call and headed north on a whim to the Hudson Valley (home to luminaries like Bob Dylan and The Band) and founded the Americana group Buffalo Stack and a studio in Beacon. Recently, Andy was the guitarist and assistant musical director for the Tony Award winning musical Girl From the North Country on Broadway (Bob Dylan, Conor McPherson), and touring guitarist/backup singer for Grammy-nominated Yola. Other credits: Whisper House, Alice By Heart, Carson McCullers Talks About Love (Duncan Sheik) and February House (Gabriel Kahane).

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

ELIZABETH RAMSAY (Production Stage Manager) is a NYC & Westchester based, freelance AEA Stage Manager. She is excited to join Ancram Center for this production! Selected Recent Credits Include: Shirley Valentine (PSM - Katonah Classic Stage); A Case for the Existence of God (PSM - Katonah Classic Stage); Spark Theatre Festival NYC (PM 2017 - 2025 - Emerging Artists Theatre). Congratulations to the cast and crew on this great production!

JACOB A. CLIMER (Scenic and Costume Design) is a scenic and costume designer for opera, theater. Recent credits- Salome, Pelleas et Melisandre, and the World premier of American Apollo. (Des Moines Metro Opera), Unknown Soldier  (Arena Stage),  Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Olney Theatre Center). Additional highlights -Love for Three Oranges  - Des Moines Metro Opera, Gary  - W.H.A.T, new musicals with John Kander - Kid Victory,  and Sarah Ruhl - Melancholy Play, and the contemporized production of Les Misérables at Dallas Theater Center. Jacob is the creative director for The Texas Rose Festival (2020-present).

EVAN ANDERSON (Lighting Designer): Ancram Center for the Arts: Where The Mountain Meets The Sea, Constellations; Theater: I Love That For You, Blue is the light that doesn’t reach us (Paul Budraitis); Symphony of Rats (The Wooster Group); Jekyll & Hyde, The Winter’s Tale, It’s A Wonderful Life (Hartford Stage Co.); Pipe Dream (Berkshire Theatre Group); Scenes With Girls (TheaterLab). Television: John Early: Now More Than Ever (HBO). MFA: Yale School of Drama.  He is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829 and is based in Brooklyn, NY. www.evancanderson.com