About the show

Sandglass Theater's A Rafter of Crankies returns to Green Mountain Orchards for the fourth consecutive year! This year, we're also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Crankie Festival tradition at Sandglass. Performances will take place on Friday, November 29, at 5 PM and 7:30 PM, and on Saturday, November 30, at 5 PM and 7:30 PM. Once again, this event will be part of the Putney Craft Tour over Thanksgiving Weekend.

Crankies are panoramic scrolls that are “cranked” on the handles of a box that the scrolls wind through. The effect is like watching the analog ancestor of a movie, or a comic strip that combines with a song or story. Together they create a performance that is charming, and often wildly funny or strikingly haunting. Although they are often associated with Appalachian folk tradition, today’s crankies embrace cultural, musical, and artistic expressions that are contemporary and as unpredictable as the weather!

This year’s performing artists will include “Rafter” founders Eric Bass and Ines Zeller Bass, Anna Patton and Fynn Crooks, Emily Schubert and Ian Mansfield, and others announced soon!

And why a Rafter of Crankies? Rafter is the group name for turkeys (just as fish group in schools or geese in gaggles). Just look at the ceiling of Green Mountain Orchards and you’ll see why the name fits for a group of crankies as well. And on Thanksgiving weekend, what better way to tie the rafter together than with the traditional meal and a crankie performance!

Join us for this cozy event, click here for tickets!