“The Wait Room” presented by Sing Sing Prison Museum

The Sing Sing Prison Museum and Bethany Arts Community proudly present the East Coast premiere of The Wait Room, an outdoor dance program created by Flyaway Productions of San Francisco to honor the lives of women whose loved ones are incarcerated.

A donation of $25 provides you with a Wait Room Pass.
If you are prison impacted, attend at no cost. Please choose a free pass if you have a loved one who is incarcerated, or if you are a returning citizen, or if you work for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. All performances are open to everyone.

The location is Louis Engel Waterfront Park, outside the walls of Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining. Metro-North trains bring you directly to Ossining’s waterfront park. Go down the stairs at the train station and walk to the southern end of the park where The Wait Room will be performed. There is free weekend parking at the train station.

In case of rain, performances will be cancelled. They will attempt to notify you 2 hours prior of any known cancellations and if a show is cancelled you are welcome to attend any remaining performances of The Wait Room.

You will also be invited to attend these lead-up events:

Short film: Recorded highlights from a previous performance of The Wait Room will help you anticipate and interpret this exciting acrobatic dance. After the 14-minute film there will be a “talk back” with Flyaway’s choreographer, Jo Kreiter, and members of the Flyaway dance team. When: Tuesday, September 17, Doors open 6:30 pm Where: Bethany Arts Community, presented by BAC as part of Flyaway’s weeklong residency

Open Rehearsal: Visit the set as Flyaway Productions prepares to perform The Wait Room. When: Wednesday, September 18, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Where: south end of Louis Engel Park, at the motorized set of The Wait Room

Incarceration through the eyes of chidren: A moving documentary film, “Tre Maison Dasan,” follows three boys, each with an incarcerated parent. Panel discussion afterwards. When: Thursday, September 19, 6:30 pm Where: Ossining Documentary & Discussion Series, Ossining Public Libarary, downstairs in the Budarz Theater

Masterclass: Explore waiting and weighting–two physical states that influenced the creation of The Wait Room. Open to all levels, no previous dance experience required. When: Saturday, September 21, 10 am – 11:30 am Where: Bethany Arts Community, presented by BAC as part of Flyaway’s weeklong residency

Flyaway’s choreographer, Jo Kreiter, recipient of a 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship who has had a loved one incarcerated, says, “‘The Wait Room’ is the most personal work I’ve undertaken since founding Flyaway Productions in 1996.” The dance, performed on a motorized set, invokes the instability experienced by wives, mothers and daughters when their loved ones are imprisoned, and the setting, in Louis Engel Park, is near a decommissioned prison guard tower and a children’s play area, which is a comment on the theme.