The Rural Academy Theater is a collaboration of individuals, two-legged & four, creating theater for primarily rural audiences in response to the growing urbanization of our culture, economy, food, education, media & art.

Their annual horse-pulled tour brings performers, musicians, sculptors & dancers to town greens, college campuses, theaters, riverbanks & farms via horse pulled wagon & bicycle power. They perform evenings of original theater under the stars or clouds using their wagon as their stage followed by a healthy dose of classic silent cinema accompanied by the Rural Academy Orkestar. 

The rest of the year they create theater, installation art, concerts, dances, feasts & all sorts of other gatherings that bring communities together to celebrate & ponder what it means to be alive together in this place, at this time.  

They have collaborated/ worked with:

Bread and Puppet Theater - Vermont

Friche Theatre Urbain – Paris

Teatro Indigena de la Sierra Tarahumara – Chihuahua, Mexico

Sun Son Theater – Taipei

Westbury-on-Severn Players – Gloustershire, UK

The Royal Forest of Dean Theatre – Bristol, UK

Great Small Works – New York City

Redwing Blackbird Theater – Rosendale, NY

Theadora Skipitares, La MaMa Theater – New York City

Superior Concept Monsters – Rokeby, NY

Paper Moon Theater – Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Puppet Underground – Washington D.C.

All the Saints Theater – Richmond, VA

The Royal Frog Ballet – Amherst, MA 

WORKSHOPS AND EDUCATION

The Rural Academy Theater has collaborated with the Pender Arts Council to bring theater workshops to schools throughout Pender County. They have conducted workshops at Heide Trask, Pender High School & Topsail High School. They also facilitate workshops with communities en route.

 All photos used on the website were taken by Nico Krebill unless otherwise noted.