Sophia Brous & Gundega Laiviņa
Please note the time change for Sunday, February 22nd performance. Due to incoming snow, the performance will start at 5 pm.
World premiere
Music / Theatre
Songs for the Dark is a new performance exploring the ritual of song that holds us.
Devised by Australian interdisciplinary artist/composer Sophia Brous with collaborating performers from the Hudson Valley and Berkshires region, and Latvian dramaturg Gundega Laiviņa, the performance examines the global repertoire of lullabies that help us through the dark.
Bringing together song and personal storytelling, this show is a testimony to our universal need to be soothed and secure. Part immersive performance, concert nocturne, and public testimonial, it is an invitation to witness each other’s humanity together.
Commissioned by PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance.
The Dark: PS21’s fearless winter festival of live performance radiating across Columbia County
The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one.
It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.
Secure your Festival Pass to The Dark now which includes tickets to every performance along with a complimentary sauna and ice skating session!
Songs for the Dark is a new performance exploring the ritual of song that holds us.
Devised by Australian interdisciplinary artist/composer Sophia Brous with collaborating performers from the Hudson Valley and Berkshires region, and Latvian dramaturg Gundega Laiviņa, the performance examines the global repertoire of lullabies that help us through the dark.
Bringing together song and personal storytelling, this show is a testimony to our universal need to be soothed and secure. Part immersive performance, concert nocturne, and public testimonial, it is an invitation to witness each other’s humanity together.
Sophia Brous is a performer, theatremaker composer and musician based between New York and Melbourne, Australia. She has been resident artist at The Brooklyn Academy of Music/BAM, New York, National Sawdust and The Watermill Centre, and Curator at Large of Brooklyn not-for-profit Pioneer Works. Brous’ work has been presented at international spaces including The Barbican, Southbank Centre, Paris Philharmonie, Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Joe’s Pub, Oslo Opera House, Royal Danish Playhouse, DOCUMENTA Athens, Sydney Opera House, Dublin Concert Hall, Dark MOFO and the Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne Festivals.
Gundega Laiviņa is a freelance performing arts and interdisciplinary curator, until 2020, a director of the New Theatre Institute of Latvia and Homo Novus Festival. Gundega has studied music, culture, social anthropology, and urban placemaking, and all these disciplines merge in her festivals – ‘a timespaces’ for the emergence of tomorrow’s theatre and community.
Director: Sophia Brous
Co-creator, Creative Producer: Gundega Laiviņa
Artistic Collaborators and Performers: Sara Cashen, Raquel Cuéllar-Parajón, Fritzson Florestal, Marcelene Joachim, Deisy Cherami Joachim, Esther Laventure, Elizabeth Gavaris Miller, Stephanie Nitka, Virginia Sushila Schwerin
Light Designer: Amanda Ringger
Sound Designer Guillaume Soula
Dramaturgy Consultant: Bruna Bonanno
Outreach Coordinators: Nandi Levine, Ivey Lowe
Production Manager: Benjamin Seretan
Songs for the Dark is created with the generous support and partnership of Multicultural Bridge, Lee, MA and Art Omi in Ghent, NY.
The Dark is supported through a Market New York grant, awarded to PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance from Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State’s Division of Tourism.
Digital content coverage for The Dark is supported by Bloomberg Connects.
The Dark‘s business sponsors are Millay Arts and The Mountains Media.
Thank you to the many generous individual supporters who helped fund The Dark.
PS21’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Please note that this performance has an unconventional seating, limited seats or standing room only. We are happy to accommodate any specific accessibility needs.
Please reach out to Adriana at boxoffice@ps21chatham.org, and she will coordinate with our front-of-house team to ensure your experience is comfortable and enjoyable.
