Ancram Play Lab explores the wars that follow soldiers home

In 2020, the Ancram Center for the Arts launched Play Lab in response to the challenges facing live theater during the COVID-19 pandemic. It continues today as a thriving residency program where artists develop original work and experiment with new forms of performance. Community connection is central to the Play Lab mission, with audiences invited to share in the creative process through interactive workshops, open rehearsals, discussions and more.

The next Play Lab work-in-progress presentation, “Be Safe, I Love You,” is a new musical theater piece based on Cara Hoffman’s acclaimed 2014 novel. It follows Iraq war veteran Lauren Clay as she returns home to Watertown, New York, where post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) drives her to protect her family from an enemy only she can see. It is a story about class, loyalty and the wars that follow soldiers home.

The novel has been praised as a critique of the social and physiological costs of war. It asks whether a person can return to a familiar place when their understanding of the world has fundamentally changed. It is also a powerful study of the unequal treatment of women in the armed forces and the expectations placed on women both in the military and at home.

Two leading contemporary women artists, playwright Darrah Cloud and composer and lyricist Stephanie Salzman, are collaborating on the piece, which balances intimate family drama with the emotional intensity of a returning soldier’s experience.

Playwright Darrah CloudProvided

Cloud is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose work explores family, history, social conflict and people confronting difficult moral choices. She has also served as the elected town supervisor of Pine Plains, effectively combining her creative career with local government service.

Salzman is a songwriter, composer and lyricist whose career spans musical theater, commercial pop songwriting and artist development. She teaches at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program and runs Power Pitch Music Studio, where she coaches, co-writes, produces recordings and helps develop the careers of emerging recording artists.

“Be Safe, I Love You” has received support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. It has been developed through Ancram Center for the Arts’ weeklong Play Lab residency program, leading to the upcoming presentation.

Play Lab is an important part of the Ancram Center’s seasonal programming and builds on its longstanding role as a cultural gathering place in rural Columbia County. The center is committed to the idea that theater can serve not only as a place where finished productions are presented but also as a safe home where the community participates in the questions, experiments and collaborations that shape new work.

While the work-in-progress presentation of “Be Safe, I Love You” at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Ancram Center is sold out, a free invited dress rehearsal will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. To attend, email info@ancramcenter.org.