[Capdist-announce] PR: Prior to August 24 Benefit, WAM Theatre announces fall production: In Darfur by Winter Miller

Wed Aug 6 15:48:14 EDT 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kristen van Ginhoven Artistic Director, WAM Theatre
www.wamtheatre.com
kristen at wamtheatre.com; 518 243 9627
Press Photos can be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157633357363354

*WAM Theatre announces fall production: In Darfur by Winter Miller*

*Fifth season benefit celebration, Change Makers, on August 24, includes a
sneak peek of In Darfur and a panel discussion with the author and other
award-winning artist/activists.  *

LEE, MA (8/06/14) – As WAM (Women’s Action Movement) Theatre prepares to
celebrate its fifth season at the August 24 Change Makers benefit, artistic
director Kristen van Ginhoven has announced that this year’s fall
production will be the New England premiere of *In Darfur*.

*In Darfur* is the provocative account of three intertwined lives at a camp
for internally displaced persons. The story follows an aid worker’s mission
to save and protect lives, a journalist’s pursuit to deliver a front page
story, and a Darfuri woman’s quest for safety. It is a searing story of
urgency and international significance.

*In Darfur*’s author, *Winter Miller*, will participate in the panel
discussion that is the cornerstone of WAM Theatre’s fifth season benefit
celebration, Change Makers, taking place on August 24 at 7 pm at the
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. In addition to the
panel discussion with Miller and other extraordinary artists who seek to
create positive social change through their work, the event will also
include a sneak peek at In Darfur and the announcement of the beneficiary
of this year’s philanthropic donation.

After five years of producing plays and donating more than $10,500 to
organizations that help women and girls, van Ginhoven says the time is
right to select a play for the fall production that deals more directly
with the issues WAM Theatre was founded to address. “I have loved *In
Darfur* for four years, since I met Winter and she sent it to me, but I was
scared to step up and produce such a challenging work of theatre. I have
always said that I don’t have the resilience to be one of those people on
the front lines, that what I can do is create an entertaining,
intellectually stimulating and imaginative evening in the theatre to
benefit those who do confront the serious issues head-on. This year, many
different events have come together to make this the story we must tell
with our fall production. I have every confidence that our audience will
receive this relevant story with enthusiasm.”

Van Ginhoven was inspired to create WAM Theatre after reading the book
“Half the Sky” by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl
WuDunn. Miller’s drama In Darfur was inspired by what she saw as Kristof’s
researcher at the start of the genocide in Darfur in 2004. After winning
the 2006 "Two-Headed Challenge" commission from the Guthrie Theater and the
Playwrights’ Center, Miller traveled with Kristof to villages and refugee
camps along the Chad/Sudan border. In Darfur premiered at The Public
Theater in Manhattan for a sold-out run; a subsequent staged reading in the
Public's 1800-seat Delacorte Theater in Central Park – a first for a play
by a woman – drew a standing-room-only crowd.

WAM Theatre’s production of *In Darfur*, scheduled for October 30-November
16, will be the play’s New England premiere. It will be presented at the
Berry Family Studio (Studio 3) in the Elayne P. Bernstein Center at
Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. Tickets will go on sale September 1 on
the Shakespeare & Company website at www.tickets.shakespeare.org.

*Four exceptional artist/activists on the August 24 Change Makers panel.*

*Miller*, a founding member of the Obie-recognized collective 13
Playwrights, whose other plays include The Penetration Play, The Arrival,
Paternity, Amandine, and Seed, will be joined by three other extraordinary,
award-winning artist/activists on the August 24 Change Makers panel, all of
whom promote social justice and human rights through their work:

Berkshire-based filmmaker *Cynthia Wade*, who is now producing the
Hollywood feature film adaptation of her 2008 Academy-Award-winning
documentary Freeheld, has garnered more than 45 film awards worldwide for
her work, which also includes Monday’s at Racine and Selfie.

Longtime National Geographic photographer *John Stanmeyer* has been
recognized with every major honor for photojournalism, including the Robert
Capa, NPPA, and National Magazine, and World Press awards.

Playwright/author/actor *Jessica Blank*, whose play The Exonerated
(co-written with Erik Jensen), based on interviews with wrongly convicted
death row inmates, won multiple prestigious theater awards, and who
followed up with the drama Aftermath, based on interviews with Iraqi
civilian refugees, has several television projects in development as well
as roles in four films coming out this year.

Van Ginhoven will engage the panelists in a discussion exploring art as a
means to address social justice. The panelists will discuss their
perspectives on the role of artist as activist and share stories of the
challenges they have faced while taking on daunting issues at home and
across the world. In addition to this dynamic panel discussion, the Change
Makers benefit celebration will also include a sneak peek of In Darfur, the
announcement of the beneficiary of this year’s philanthropic donation, and
an onstage reception for top-level ticket holders.

Says van Ginhoven, “As an organization whose aims are to effect positive
change through theatre, I couldn’t be more excited that this fifth season
benefit celebration will showcase extraordinary artists striving to make
the world a better place. Given the experience and caliber of the
panelists, we are looking forward to sharing a meaningful and inspirational
evening with our audience. This important discussion will pave the way
perfectly for our fall production of* In Darfur*, which, as Oskar Eustis of
the Public Theatre notes, is a theatrical offering that is also a call to
arms.”

Tickets to Change Makers, a panel discussion and benefit celebration of WAM
Theatre’s fifth season, can be purchased in person or by calling the
Mahaiwe box office at 413.528.0100 or at www.mahaiwe.org

*Change Makers*, WAM Theatre’s fifth season celebration, benefit, and panel
discussion on creating positive change through the arts, hosted by Jayne
Atkinson.

*Date & Time*
Sunday, August 24 at 7 pm

*Location*
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA

*Ticket prices*
Premium seating:
Gold: $125; includes post-show reception with the artists/panelists on the
Mahaiwe stage.
Silver: $75; includes $25 donation to WAM Theatre’s education program.
Reserved seating: $50
Tickets can be purchased online at www.mahaiwe.org, in person or by calling
the box office at 413.528.0100.

*Lead sponsors*
Berkshire Magazine; Cohen Kinne Valicenti Cook, Attorneys; Greylock Federal
Credit Union; Gogel & Gogel Law Firm

*Additional sponsors*
Blue Q; Canyon Ranch; Cohen + White Associates; John Gotterer; DMD, Nina
Molin, MD; Lenox Village Integrative Pharmancy; Rogovoy Report; Rook Wood
Inn; Rouge Restaurant & Bistro. Fifth season events also partially
supported by the Alford-Egremont, Pittsfield, Otis and Stockbridge Cultural
Councils.

*About WAM Theatre*
Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM (Women’s Action Movement)
Theatre was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and
producer Kristen van Ginhoven, who was inspired to take action by the book
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. WAM Theatre’s philanthropic mission is
two-fold: first, to create theatrical events for everyone, with a focus on
women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls; and second, to
donate a portion of the proceeds from those events to organizations that
benefit women and girls.

Over the past five years, WAM Theatre has donated more than $10,500 to six
nonprofit organizations that help women and girls, and provided paid work
to more than 100 theatre artists. In its fifth year, artistic director van
Ginhoven has expanded WAM Theatre’s activities to include more performances
in various venues, including educational outreach and the new Fresh Takes
Play Reading Series at Six Depot Roastery and Café in West Stockbridge. For
more information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com

# #  # # #
Kristen van Ginhoven
*Artistic Director*
WAM Theatre
518-243-9627

Celebrating our Fifth Season!

Check out the newly redesigned website: www.WAMTheatre.com
<http://www.wamtheatre.com>

Up Next:
August 18/*Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England*- Fresh Takes Play
Reading Series <http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes/>
August 24/*Changes Makers- *Five Year Celebration Benefit Event
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/summer-benefit-2014/>

Click here <http://www.wamtheatre.com/donate/> to make a secure donation to
WAM Theatre

*Thank you for your support!*
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