Will Davis: Play Laboratory, Sarah Ruhl’s Late, A Cowboy Song (1/24-1/26)
Company Workshop Will Davis: Play Laboratory Sarah Ruhl's Late, A Cowboy Song Weekend Workshop Dates & Times Saturday, January 24, 2026 – 10:00am-5:00pm (Studio 3A) Sunday, January 25, 2026 – 10:00am-5:00pm (Black Box) Monday, January 26, 2026 – 5:00pm-9:00pm (Studio X) Sat/Sun: Playwrights Studios @440, 440 Lafayette Street Mon: Gibney: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, 280 Broadway, Enter at 53A Chambers Street This workshop is only open to participants, we cannot accommodate observers. About the Workshop Director, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Rattlestick Theater, Will Davis, returns to The Actors Center this January for a three-day play laboratory exploring the world of Sarah Ruhl’s Late, A Cowboy Song. Working collaboratively and on our feet, we’ll investigate the play—exploring scenes and alternating roles (across age, gender, type)—guided by Will’s physically adventurous and ensemble-driven directing style. Over the course of the weekend, we’ll experiment with how the text behaves in space, in bodies, and in relation to sound and movement. Will will lead investigations that explore moments of claustrophobia versus moments of openness; play with layering voices and redistributing text among multiple actors; and work with a slowed-down line dance as a possible ritual form—asking how poetry, music, and choreography affect the play’s emotional landscape and sense of time. The emphasis throughout will be on exploration rather than outcome: allowing the play to reveal itself through shared inquiry, physical experimentation, and attentive ensemble work. About the Play Mary, always late and always married, meets a lady cowboy named Red who teaches her how to ride a horse. Red exudes a taste of freedom that Mary didn't even know she lacked, and is suddenly desperate to find. Late, a Cowboy Song, is the story of one woman's education and her search to find true love outside the box. Written by Sarah Ruhl, the play premiered in 2003 at Clubbed Thumb. » Read the play About Will Davis Will Davis is the Artistic Director of Rattlestick Theater. As a director and choreographer, his work has been seen Off-Broadway at Signature Theatre, City Center, Roundabout Theatre, MTC, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, and Soho Rep. Regionally, his work has been seen at La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Shakespeare Theater Company, Long Wharf Theatre and ATC in Chicago where Davis previously served as Artistic Director. He received a Helen Hayes award for best direction for his work on Colossal at the Olney Theatre Center, was...

