On Thursday, January 29, my play, “Last Day At Maple View Farm” will be performed at the new “Hubbard Hall Winter Carnival” in Cambridge, N.Y. It is a short play, about 15-20 minutes, there are seven scenes about a farmer whose dairy farm is about to go under. It is a reflection of my photographs and visits to a number of dairy farms as they succumbed to globalism, corporatism, new economic theories and suffocating government regulation.

Hubbard Hall is doing five staged readings of the play, along with many other plays and performances. The first will be be at 8 p.m., January 29. The second will be at 8 p.m. Friday, January 30. The third is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, January 31. The fourth will be at 8 p.m., Saturday, January 31, and the final reading will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, February l. Tickets to my play and the others are available through Hubbard Hall.

The world premiere of a new play, “Nexus” by Danielle Mohlman and other plays and productions will also be offered on each of those nights, something new and exciting and part of the “Winter Carnival Of New York.” I have wanted to write about the collapse of the dairy and family farms for some time, I am grateful to David Snider, the executive director of Hubbard Hall for giving me the chance. If the play works, I might expand it into a full and longer work.

This is my second effort at playwrighting, my first play, “AT&T And Me,” was produced by the Soho Theater Festival in New York a few years ago. I am excited about sticking my toe in these waters again. I am lucky to have met my friend Carol Gulley, who runs a dairy farm in White Creek, N.Y. with her husband Ed. Carol graciously agreed to be first reader on my play, she offered some invaluable advice and counsel.

The collapse of family farms is a powerful story for me. Farmers are complex people, they are awash with emotion but rarely show it, they are among the world’s greatest animal lovers, but are beset for animal rights groups who have no understanding either of farming or farm animals. They are unwavering conservatives, yet they are continuously ravaged and betrayed by the people they elect.

I admire them greatly and am proud to count several as friends. The play is a creative step forward for me, it feels like the beginning of something new, and the story of the country’s struggling farms is one that needs to be told. The play enters on Ralph Tunney’s last morning in his dairy barn with his family, friends and beloved cow Gertrude. A labor of love for sure.

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Note: A staged reading is the performance of a play during which actors hold their scripts, wear black or their own clothes and perform with no props, scenery or sound effects. A staged reading, says David Snider, “helps to bring a play to life and focuses on the text.”