“Papa said it was a curse.
That Blakelock was cursed.
Papa said because Blakelock was his dad
he carried it too, and that I have it.
He said I had him in my blood.
That I was just like him.”
The tragic and nearly forgotten life of painter Ralph Albert Blakelock is reclaimed by his own great-great-grandaughter when the world premiere of Erica Knight’s “Ghost Dance: Picture of a Madman” comes to Catskill’s Bridge Street Theatre for three performances only – March 28-30, 2025 – as the fourth and final installment in BST’s SoloFest 2025.
In February of 1916, Ralph Albert Blakelock's haunting landscape, “Brook by Moonlight”, was sold at auction for $20,000, a record price at that time for a painting by a living American artist. The sale made him famous, newspapers called him America's greatest artist, and thousands flocked to see exhibits of his work. Yet at the time of this triumph, Blakelock himself had been confined to the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital for Mental Disorders for sixteen years, and his destitute wife and eight surviving children were living in poverty in an abandoned cottage on Catskill Creek in Leeds. While the self-taught Blakelock’s early works were heavily influenced by Thomas Cole and other Hudson River School painters, the onset of schizophrenia pushed his paintings into ever more controversial and radical areas. This secret history is slowly unearthed by his great-great granddaughter, initially kept in the dark by her family who feared that Blakelock’s ‘madness’ was actually a family curse. In the course of the play, Erica travels back and forth in time, playing eleven different characters over the course of 111 years, and making one remarkable discovery after another, until at last Ralph Albert Blakelock’s unique voice is finally heard and his singular vision seen once again.
“Ghost Dance” will be presented for three performances only – Friday March 28 and Saturday March 29 at 7:30pm, and Sunday March 30 at 2:00pm – on Bridge Street Theatre’s intimate “Priscilla” Mainstage, located at 44 West Bridge Street in Catskill, NY. For more details and ticketing information, visit bridgest.org/solofest-2025-four/. While visiting the website, you’ll also find information on the availability of a Season Pass good for admission to all five plays in Bridge Street Theatre’s upcoming Mainstage Season for 2025 – Brian Dykstra’s “Polishing Shakespeare”, Amy Herzog’s “Mary Jane”, Carmen Borgia’s “South: A Nautical Musical”, Hannah Moscovitch’s “Red Like Fruit”, and Ernest Thompson’s “On Golden Pond”
Don’t miss this remarkable world premiere that explores the life, times, and madness of a painter with deep ties to the Catskill area, and whose brooding, hallucinogenic landscapes anticipated Abstract Expressionism by more than half a century.
Performance Calendar:
Bridge Street Theatre presentsSoloFest 2025 Show FourThe World Premiere of
GHOST DANCE: PICTURE OF A MADMAN
Written and Performed by Erica Knight Directed by John Ahlin Three Performances Only! Friday March 28 and Saturday March 29 at 7:30pmSunday March 30 at 2:00pm Bridge Street Theatre’s “Priscilla” Mainstage 44 West Bridge Street, Catskill, NY
Tickets:
Online in advance: $27
At the door: $29
Ages 18 and under: $15
Regular Season Pass: $125https://bridgest.org/2025-season-pass/
ERICA KNIGHT, both playwright and performer in “Ghost Dance”, is an actress, teaching artist, and writer based in New York City. She has performed for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Centenary Stage Company, and the Metropolitan Playhouse, as well as having produced and appeared in “The Summoning” by Charlotte Ahlin, and Lee Blessing’s Independence. On Television, Erica has appeared on “Gossip Girl”, and “One Life to Live”. As a teacher, she has joyfully worked with students of all ages in theatre and creative writing programs such as Written Out Loud, Broadway Bound Kids, and the Atlantic Theater Company. Erica was a semi-finalist for Primary Stages Echo’s Writers Group and has been nominated for an Innovative Theatre Award for her work.
JOHN AHLIN (Director). John is filled with gratitude to be working with Bridge Street Theatre once again. Last seen as a playwright/actor in “ChipandGus”, John is delighted to be back. Having directed, performed, produced and written plays all over the country, he has a unique perspective: “The quality of work here is a good as anywhere in the country,” he says. “Bridge Street is a gem, and nowhere in the panoply of theaters does anyplace shine brighter. This community is lucky indeed.” To bring “Ghost Dance” here for its world premiere is an honor, especially since Catskill could be called the home office of the Hudson River School of Art. That the subject of the play was both a great and original American artist, painted these hills, forests and bridges, had his immediate family living along the banks of Catskill Creek, all make this the perfect location to breathe this play to life. John is grateful to Erica Knight for her passion and moxie in seeing this play come into being. John is also Artistic Director of the New York City based Fat Knight Theatre Company, which is dedicated to creating, discovering and rediscovering great characters in drama, history, literature and modern mythology.
Events at Bridge Street Theatre are supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor of New York and the New York State Legislature and by Public Funds from the Greene County Legislature administered by CREATE Council on the Arts. Bridge Street Theatre’s entire 2025 Season is dedicated to the memory of Mary E. Barrett.
Comments