The Plein Air Plays, Ancram Center’s Biennial Outdoor Series
Ancram Center for the Arts announced the return of its Plein Air Plays, a triptych of short plays performed outdoors. First produced during COVID in 2021, the series has become a popular biennial event: audiences travel by car to different locations where the setting becomes one of the characters. This year’s performances run Aug. 7-10, and locations will be revealed to ticket holders at the time of performance. Each play has a running time of approximately 25 minutes, with the entire experience lasting about 100 minutes.
Featured this year are a folk musical song cycle, a one-woman monologue about rural childhood, and a piece that blends physical storytelling, contemporary circus, and modern dance:
· My Dog is Dead by Kate Douglas, performed by Douglas, Ben Ferguson, and Luke Wygodny. In this part song cycle/part storytelling piece, a woman gains psychic abilities after her family dog dies. Her new abilities allow her to see the fates of others in her small town, leading to a whirlwind of conflicting emotions in the community.
· Rupert’s Birthday by Ken Jenkins, featuring Danielle Skraastad. While working in the barn of her family’s farm, Louisa recounts a story from her childhood when she helped birth a bull calf, Rupert, who was born on the same day as her brother, Orville. Filled with poignant insights about her rural girlhood, the monologue follows the thread of Louisa’s life—and makes it clear why the only birthday she acknowledges, or celebrates, is Rupert’s.
· Same Picture, Different Poses, created & performed by Kyle Driggs/Logan Kerr /3AM Theatre. A surreal duet blending physical storytelling, contemporary circus, and modern dance, where a couple revisit the unspoken dynamics of their relationship and confront the identities they project and conceal. Unfolding within the walls of an imagined living room, the piece explores intimacy, duality, and the versions of ourselves we carry.
Kate Douglas is an award-winning writer, composer, and performer who previously appeared at Ancram Center in The Lucky Few opposite co-writer Todd Almond, and Centuries opposite co-creators Matthew Dean Marsh and Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez.
Danielle Skraastad received a Best Solo Performance Award from The Berkshire Theatre Critics Association for her 2018 appearance in Tony Kushner’s Homebody at Ancram Center. She also appeared in Still Life at Ancram Center, which received a BTCA Best Ensemble nomination in 2022.
Kyle Driggs is a contemporary circus artist blending juggling, sculpture, and storytelling. A graduate of École Nationale de Cirque, he has performed with Cirque du Soleil, Big Apple Circus, Circus Roncalli, and The Seven Fingers, and earned a silver medal at Cirque de Demain.
Logan Kerr is a NYC-based tight wire dancer and circus artist. She began with Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and has toured nationally with Circus Bella, Cirque US, and Piccolo Zoppe. Logan is currently a co-operator and artistic associate at 3AM Theatre.
3AM Theatre blends contemporary circus, modern dance, and physical theatre with kinetic sculpture and innovative lighting design to create original works that encompass both visual art and live performance.
Ancram Center is committed to affordable theatre and offers student discounts and tiered pricing, where ticket-buyers can choose between community-supported, regular, and pay-it-forward rates. For more information visit ancramcenter.org
Celebrating its 10th anniversary season, Ancram Center for the Arts is an award-winning theater located in New York’s Hudson Valley. Housed in an historic Grange Hall, Ancram Center is dedicated to presenting risk-taking productions and new work by nationally recognized theater artists in an intimate performance space. Ancram Center’s 2025 season is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Plein Air Plays
Aug. 7-10
Thu & Fri at 5pm & 6pm
Sat & Sun at 4pm, 5pm & 6pm
Ancram Center for the Arts
1330 County Route 7, Ancram NY 12502
Tickets: ancramcenter.org
Performance locations will be revealed on arrival.
Not recommended for children under 14.
Audience capacity is limited. Each play has a running time of approximately 25 minutes, with the entire experience lasting about 100 minutes. At each location, blankets and some seating will be provided. Audiences are also welcome to bring their own seating, if preferred, or to stand.
