READING WILLA CATHER
Directed by Darrah Cloud
Sunday, July 14th at 3pm
At Ancram Center for the Arts
Join us for a sesquicentennial celebration of Willa Cather, one of the most singular and treasured American writers of the 20th century. Cather’s groundbreaking fiction (including O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, One of Ours, The Professor’s House, and Death Comes for the Archbishop) set a new standard in American literature. This performance of readings from Cather's fiction and letters premieres in the Roe Jan area at the Ancram Center for the Arts following readings at Symphony Space, Boston Athenaeum, New York Society Library, Kaatsbaan Arts Center, and UCLA.
Click here to view the full script for Reading Willa Cather!
About The Artists
Darrah Cloud is currently working on the book for the musical adaptation of Wally Lamb’s SHE’S COME UNDONE with David Simpatico and Michael Holland, as well as THE IMAGINARY LIFE OF ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, a commission from Ark/Live Nation Productions. Her musical version of the Willy Holtzman play, SABINA, (lyrics) opened April 2022 at Portland Stage. Her play, TURNING, about the 1936 Olympic women’s gymnastic team, was produced at Centenary Stage in March of 2021. Other productions include: OUR SUBURB (premiere Theater J, Washington, DC), JOAN THE GIRL OF ARC (Cincinnati Playhouse, then toured), WHAT’S BUGGING GREG?, THE STICK WIFE, THE MUD ANGEL, DREAM HOUSE, BRAILLE GARDEN and THE SIRENS. Her musicals, written with composer Kim D. Sherman, include HEARTLAND, (Madison Repertory Theatre, The Majestic Theatre in Dallas, TheatreWorks Palo Alto) THE BOXCAR CHILDREN (Theatreworks USA, tour), HONOR SONG FOR CRAZY HORSE (TheatreWorks Palo Alto) and the stage adaptation of Willa Cather’s O PIONEERS!, which has received over 100 productions in the United States and was filmed starring Mary McDonnell for American Playhouse. She has won numerous awards, including the Macy’s Prize for Theatre for Young Audiences, an NEA and a Rockefeller, and has had over 10 movies-of-the-week produced on CBS and NBC. She is a proud alum of the Iowa Writers Workshop and New Dramatists, and co-directs Howl Playwrights in Rhinebeck, NY. She is a Trustee of Dutchess Community College and the former Town Supervisor of Pine Plains, NY.
Peter Cipkowski is Vice President of the Board of Governors of The Willa Cather Foundation and coordinator of a reading series honoring the 150th anniversary of Cather's birth, which to date has been staged at Symphony Space (NYC), Boston Athenaeum, New York Society Library, Kaatsbaan Arts Center, and UCLA. His interest in Cather was piqued when his grandmother, a Polish immigrant, was told by a local librarian that she needed to read Cather if she wanted to understand America.
Featured Performers
Anne Undeland has worked throughout the Northeast with WAM Theatre, Great Barrington Public Theatre, Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Ancram Opera House, Ventfort Hall, Barrington Stage, Stageworks, Capital Repertory Theatre, Mixed Company, MopCo, Shakespeare & Company, the Metropolitan Playhouse, Studio Theatre at Theatre Row, and the New Repertory Theatre. Anne spent years as a puppeteer, developed living history programs and oral history projects, narrated audiobooks, and played roles in numerous productions for BBC radio and WBUR/Boston. She is also a playwright (proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Rooted Writers, and Howl Playwrights) whose work has been presented around the country. Most recently she's been at work on a commission from Great Barrington Public Theater about Mozart's wife: Madame Mozart, the Lachrymosa. www.anneundeland.com.
Dean Temple works as an actor, writer, and director in stage, screen, audiobooks, and video games. Through Drake Creative in Millbrook, NY, he is also the documentary filmmaker for the FDR Presidential Library. His 2019 solo show Voice of Authority (writer/actor), was named a “Hidden Gem” by Fringe Review and enjoyed successful runs at 59E59 Theaters in NYC and Surgeon’s Hall at Edinburgh Fringe. Dean is a member of Howl Playwrights.