It's quiet. the sound of waves gently lapping the shore. no one else is around. you can hear your pen scratch a letter that you’re too scared to send. Then, sweeping above you in a wide arc: A LIGHT. 

Introducing LIGHTKEEPER, a new play with music by Julia Labusch and director Michèle Carter Cram, coming to The Rat in Brooklyn, October 2026!

Deán Dreck has lived in isolation in a lighthouse for years, maintaining a tenuous peace – until one day, a letter shows up that forces him to at once settle the past and invite the future. Lightkeeper is a story about the pain of being alone, but even more, it's a story about the strength and difficulty of choosing community, even when it’s the harder choice. 

Inspired by a half-baked attempt at a fantasy novel written by a high school sophomore when they should have been paying attention in history class, this play was written as a love letter to the people who change our lives before moving on to bigger things, and the people we used to be. If you’ve ever felt trapped in a lighthouse while the rest of the world kept spinning without you, then our little grown-up fairytale is just for you. Come on in from the cold, warm yourself by the fire, and let us tell you a story about stars.

This will be Lightkeeper’s first ever fully-staged production, and we need YOUR help to make it the absolute best that it can be!

WHO ARE WE:

Julia Labusch (he/she/they) is a queer, Jewish, and neurodivergent Off-Broadway actor and playwright; born and raised in NYC, and was the recipient of the Joelle Carroll Fiction Writing Award in 2021. They have a BA in acting and writing from Bennington College, where they directed Lightkeeper’s first staged reading in April of 2024. They made their NYC playwriting debut with a staged reading of their 10-minute play Next of Kin at Afterlife Fest in April of 2026, directed by Evan Chrust. Their work is unapologetically queer, imaginative, and sincere. IG: @queenjulia_11

Michèle Carter Cram (she/her) is a NYC based director with roots in the Mountain West telling stories of mythic proportion with a contemporary praxis. Her work centers trust and embodies joy as radical. Past collaborators include EST/Youngblood,  Forager Theater Co., Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble/Red Bull Theatre, Next Stop Productions, Ghostlight Theater Collective, Dixon Place (HOT Festival), the Tank (Limefest), kindakismet productions, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Contemporary Theater, and Migration Theory. During the daylight hours, Michèle works on the producing team at Manhattan School of Music. Proud alum and former co-chair of Sarah Lawrence College’s Half Naked Shakespeare ensemble and 24 Hour Plays: Nationals. Currently: Lightkeeper. Education: Sarah Lawrence College, BADA, 2024 Kennedy Center Directing Intensive, Juilliard Apprentice program. IG: @mcartercram

Our production budget is $7,185. Expenses include artist stipends for our cast and crew, space rentals for rehearsal and performance, publicity/marketing, and administrative costs such as posting on Playbill.com and printing scripts. Our budget also includes a contingency of $200. 

We are aiming to raise $3,000 (or more!) through individual donations from our network to help support this project. Additional funds will be raised through executive producer level underwriters, ticketed revenue, and sponsorships.