by Paula Kaplan-Reiss
Ancram Center For the Arts never disappoints. Where the Mountain Meets the Sea by Jeff Augustin is currently playing, featuring a Haitian father and his grown son telling parallel stories about going cross country, each in different directions, from and to Haiti. Accompanying them on bass, acoustic guitar and banjo are two gifted musicians singing original folk music by The Bengsons. With the theater converted into a bar, with small tables and chairs on risers, the audience is transported and completely absorbed in Augustin’s story. Originally performed in 2022 at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Director Christopher Windom beautifully directs this moving father/son story.
Before the play begins, Kaia Dedek and Andy Stack play and sing familiar folk tunes, while wine is sold at the bar, newly constructed for this show. For frequent patrons of this theater, nothing looks familiar. Scenic Designer Jacob A. Climer is responsible for the complete transformation, with a platform in the corner for the band, and gold mylar streamers behind the musicians. Neon beer signs, and photos of past performers line the walls. The effect is reminiscent of how the Broadway show, Once begins. The audience can join the stage and feel immersed in the setting
We soon learn that the warm-up performers, Dedek and Stack, are integral parts of the play. As similarly seen in the new musical, fuzzy, playing at Barrington Stage Company, the musicians join the actors in telling the story. Tai Bennett, as the father, Jean, begins as a teacher in Haiti, instructing French conjugation of the word Parler (to speak), eventually asking the audience to join in the repetition. We learn of his taking a boat to America to drive cross country to Miami to begin his new life. He shares stories about his many lovers, his dream of having a son, his purchase of a green Cadillac, and his work as a baggage handler at an airport. He exudes a dreamy, at times, impulsive and naive nature, a man who is in love with love.
Kristofer Ryan Wilson, as the son, Jonah, enters from the back of the audience as his father leaves. We see a full-grown young man, serious and somewhat distant, with dreadlocks on top of his head, sporting flowery pants. He is a linguistics major studying for his doctorate; his father has died. He is on a journey to return his father’s ashes to Haiti, while driving from Miami to California, eager to take the same route made by his father and mother over 30 years ago as they explored the national parks. Jonah, too, has many lovers, all of whom are men, most older than he and involved in polyamorous relationships. Jonah is the son his father dreamed about…or is he? His mother died when he was four, yet we never learn how.
As the stories intertwine, with Jean and Jonah rarely being on stage at the same time, we see how father and son have, in many ways missed each other in life. Alongside these monologues, Dedek and Stack, both white performers, sing “mountain music” mirroring the tone of Jean and Jonah’s lives. At one point, Stack joins Wilson in a wild, crazy dance, playing one of Jean’s lovers. It is unexpected and delightful.
Bennett and Wilson each own their roles, while telling their stories. While never talking to each other, we imagine the relationship they have with each other. Bennett shows the transformation Jean makes in coming to accept his son and seeing him as enough. Wilson shows the longing to have a lover who speaks his name intimately. Both Bennett and Wilson sing sweetly when joining Dedek and Stack.
Dedek and Stack harmonize beautifully, while playing different instruments with no sheet music in front of them. Stack’s experience as the assistant musical director for another folk driven Tony award winning musical, Girl From the North Country is evident.
Director Windom succeeds in drawing the audience into this 80 minute intimate piece, while bathed in The Bengsons’ beautiful folk music. Where the Mountain Meets the Sea brings together these two disparate lives, neither fully appreciated without the other. We witness the life of an immigrant, the longing to be accepted, and the strength of music to bring us together.
Where the Mountain Meets the Sea by Jeff Augustin, directed by Christopher Windom, runs July 11-20 at the Ancram Center for the Arts, 1330 County Route 7 in Ancram, NY. Cast Tai Bennett and Kristofer Ryan Wilson. Musicians: Andy Stack & Kaia Dedek. Creative Team: Evan Anderson, lighting design; Jacob Climer, scenic & costume design; Liz Connell, technical director; Karie Koppel, casting director; and Elizabeth Ramsay, stage manager.
Performances July 11 – 13 & July 17 – 20, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 3pm. Tickets: Student $20 (Valid school ID required); Sponsored $29 (Reduced price made possible through community donations); General $49 (Standard admission); Pay-It-Forward $69 (Help make our programs accessible to others). Transaction Fee $3/ticket. Ancram asks that your purchase reflects what you are able to comfortably pay, as they strive to make their performances available to everyone.
https://www.ancramcenter.org/where-the-mountain-meets-the-sea