Past Performances
in the Space

Writing the Walls 2026 turned to short plays for 2026 at Studio Theater in Exile @ Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill, NY

‍‍Dora Straus awakens in an E.R. with a massive stroke with paralysis on her right side and aphasia; she understands everything but cannot make herself understood. At age 76 she graduated college as a valedictorian. Dora, a tough, brilliant, competitive, opiniated disciplinarian, now faces the world soundless, and totally dependent. In this play in verse written by her eldest son, Marc, she takes full stock of her life. It is at times sad, funny, angry, and above all honest.

Studio Theater is Exile presented Just the Place Adult Company in a dance performance, The Other Side of Hate, choreographed by Sharon Simmons Wright on September 20 & September 21, 2025. STIE@HVMOCA, 1701 Main Street, Peekskill, NY 10566.

Studio Theater in Exile presents: The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project.

Dramatists’ Theme Park: Seven Rides was an evening of seven new short plays at Studio Theater in Exile @ Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY.

‍I AM MY OWN WIFE is the amazing and true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German transvestite who “Survived the Nazis and the Stasi in a dress.”

This production was inspired by social justice photographs by Ocean Morisset and drawings from the “Arc of the Viral Universe” journal installation at the theater curated by Carla Rae Johnson. “The arts reflect our political thoughts as well as our human feelings,” said Mara Mills, Artistic Director of Studio Theater in Exile, “And STIE mission is to look at the world through the lens of social impact and artistic collaboration. Working with Sharon is a pleasure and privilege. Her broad experience and artistic intensity is awesome.”

A bit of history: Writing the Walls began in 2005 when Studio Theater in Exile’s co-founder and Artistic Director Mara Mills and Livia Straus, co-founder Hudson Valley MOCA, created WTW and invited poets and playwrights to contribute original works reflective of their interaction with the art in the Museum.

NOT GOD examines the relationship between a patient, her oncologist, life, and cancer. The play, in poetry, was written by Marc Straus.

Throughout the centuries, women have been involved in making art, whether as creators and innovators of new forms of artistic expression, patrons, collectors, sources of inspiration...

A staged reading of the play Judgment at Nuremberg. Written by Abby Mann. Directed by Thomas Kramer.