The Plein Air Plays 2023
August 10 - 13
Thu & Fri at 5p & 6p; Sat at 4p & 6p; Sun at 4p & 5p
August 17 - 20
Thu at 4p & 5p; Fri at 5p & 6p; Sat at 4p & 6p; Sun at 4p & 5p
An all new edition of our outdoor theatrical triptych launched in summer 2021. Three site-specific new works will be presented as a roving performance with audiences traveling by car to each secret location to experience these self-contained plays in environments that enhance their stories.
For this special theatrical event, AOH is commissioning two new works: one written by Mukta Phatak, featuring Abuzar Farrukh, seen as part of AOH’s Crystal Radio Sessions and award-winning INVASION! in 2022; and another by New York-based cabaret artist, writer, and actor Salty Brine. The event will also premier a work by playwright and poet Barbara Wiechmann, previously at AOH as the author of Snow Queen in 2019.
Generously supported by…
Performance Photo Gallery
About the Plays
Made in Pakistan
written by Mukta Phatak
directed by Paul Ricciardi
performed by Abuzar Farrukh
A soccer coach meditates on family, connection, and his relationship to the land as he gets ready for an important game.
Summer
written by Barbara Wiechmann
directed by Jeffrey Mousseau
performed by Glenn Barrett & Martina Deignan
On a summer evening, sitting under a tree, an older couple argue bitterly over differing versions of the story of their marriage.
Giving Up the Ghosts
written and performed by Salty Brine
With Will lawrence on guitar
A gravedigger in a small town finds himself trapped in an existential crisis that has him contemplating everything from love to philosophy to dead pets in his search for the answer to life’s biggest question.
Notes on the Performance
Please take note that to reach each performance location, audiences will be also walking a short distance across grass that is sometimes gently sloping. For whom this may be a concern, please write info@ancramoperahouse.org so that we can make accommodations.
At each play location, blankets and some seating will be provided. Audiences are also welcome to bring their own seating, if preferred, or to stand.
All three plays are presented at each showing so only select one date / time combination.
Audience capacity is limited.
Plein Air Plays Plus Benefit Performances
4:30p on Saturday, August 12 and Saturday, August 19
Experience the magic of plein air theater as we present three captivating short plays staged in three secret outdoor locations. Each venue has been purposefully selected to enhance the plays’ storytelling, creating an immersive experience you won't want to miss.
After each play, you'll travel by car to the next venue, where another play unfolds. The evening culminates in cocktails and supper for 6-8 hosted by a generous supporter of the Ancram Opera House. It's an opportunity to celebrate vibrant arts in the community while connecting with fellow theater enthusiasts in a congenial after-theatre setting.
About the Artists
ABUZAR FARRUKH is an actor, born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. This is Abuzar's third project with Ancram Opera House, having performed in Invasion! and the Crystal Radio Sessions in 2022 . Select credits: Disgraced (Chester Theatre Company), The Night Diary (Children's Theatre Of Charlotte), Refugee (Joakim Interfest, Serbia), Mitigating Damages (Castillo Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Brown Box Theatre Project). He holds a BA in Theatre from UMass Amherst, where he was the recipient of the Ed Golden Acting Award.
MUKTA PHATAK is a multi-hyphenate artist living in NYC. She graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A. in Theatre.
Her play adaptation of the Newbery Award winning book The Night Diary was commissioned by the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and premiered there in March of 2023. It centers two children during the Partition of 1947 - a violent historic act that split Colonial India into Pakistan and India - displacing around 20 million people and killing several million.
A proud member of Actors Equity Association, she has worked on several projects as an actor - from fringe
devised plays, to indie plays, to large scale musicals, to TYA shows. She has taught playwriting and theater to youth writers through her work with TWUSA, Colt Coeur and the Bushwick Starr. She also teaches early childhood music through Mind Body Music NYC. Her poetry has appeared in collaborations via film, dance, music and social media.
A proud daughter of Indian immigrants, her intersectional identities are at the core of her artistry. In her writing, acting and everyday life she works to elevate the unheard stories of her ancestors, as well as make space for others to do the same. Through her projects she strives to be a force for justice, learning, and play.
SALTY BRINE is a New York-based cabaret artist, writer, and actor. He is the creative force behind The Living Record Collection, a series of cabaret performances which weave together iconic, popular albums with major cultural touchstones from classic literature to opera and beyond. Additional performance credits: The Elementary Spacetime Show (Are Nova, FringeArts); Clown Bar (Pipeline Theatre Company, The Box); Taylor Mac's The Lily’s Revenge (HERE). www.thesaltiestbrine.com
BARBARA WIECHMANN’s work has been produced in New York City at P.S. 122, The Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, BACA Downtown, HERE, the Ohio Theatre, The Samuel Beckett Theatre, at the Edinburgh, Seattle, Toronto, and Philadelphia Fringe Festivals, and at colleges and universities around the country. A long- time collaborator with Jeff Mousseau, their productions of Aunt Leaf, were seen at HERE, Hudson Stage Works (co- produced with AOH) as a one woman show at AOH featuring the Mexican theatre Artist Indira Pensado, and in both Spanish and English in a co- production with Plan B Estudio Teatro in Torreon, Mexico. The Snow Queen developed with and directed by Jeff was workshopped at the Kennedy Center, HERE Arts Center, and Sienna College and
produced by the Ancram Opera House in 2019. Her plays Feeding the Moonfish and 36 Rumson Road are included in Telling Tales, and Shorter, Faster Funnier two anthologies of short plays by Viking Penguin. Aunt Leaf and Feeding the Moonfish are published by Dramatic Publishing. Her work is also represented in New Monologues for Women by Women, an anthology published by Heineman Press. A two time New York State Council on the Arts grant recipient and a Jane Chambers award finalist she is also the creator of the television sitcom Naturally Sadie, a show for kids about a girl naturalist that aired on the Disney Channel for three seasons. She is a Hamilton College graduate.