[Capdist-announce] PR: Tickets on Sale for WAM's 'In Darfur'/Beneficiary Announced

Thu Sep 11 10:57:53 EDT 2014

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Contact: Gail Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

*www.wamtheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>*

pr at wamtheatre.com; 518.243.9627

Press Photos can be found at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157647047792407/

*WAM Theatre presents the New England Premiere of In Darfur.*

*Mother of Peace Ilovo selected as the 2014 philanthropic beneficiary.  *

LEE, MA (9/xx/14) – WAM (Women’s Action Movement) Theatre is gearing up for
its most ambitious and daring fall production: the New England premiere of
Winter Miller’s timely drama, *In Darfur*. Preparations come on the heels
of WAM Theatre’s enlightening fifth-season celebration, *Change Makers*,
during which Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven announced that Mother
of Peace Ilovo, an orphanage in South Africa, will be the beneficiary of
WAM’s 2014 philanthropic donation. *In Darfur* will run from October 30 –
November 16 at the Berry Family Studio at Shakespeare & Company, where
tickets are now available for purchase. Opening night is Saturday, November
1.

Attendees at last month’s *Change Makers* event were introduced to *In
Darfur* playwright Winter Miller, who participated in a provocative panel
discussion with other award-winning artist/activists who use their work to
address issues of human rights and social justice. *Change Makers* also
included a brief preview of *In Darfur*, which gave the audience a glimpse
of the play’s power, relevance, and unexpected humor.

*In Darfur* is the provocative tale of three lives that intersect in the
most challenging of circumstances: a camp for internally displaced persons.
The story follows an aid worker’s mission to protect lives, a Darfuri
woman’s quest for safety and a journalist’s pursuit to deliver a front-page
story to call attention to a humanitarian crisis. Relevant and poignant, *In
Darfur* is a journey of courage and humanity in the face of peril.

"WAM really wants to illuminate this play and I am moved by their
curiosity, sensitivity, and research," says Miller. "I am really looking
forward to the journey with WAM and eager to get to know more of the
community in the Berkshires."

An award-winning playwright and founding member of the Obie-recognized
collective 13 Playwrights, Miller was inspired to write*In Darfur* by what
she witnessed as *New York Times* columnist Nicholas Kristof’s researcher
at the start of the Darfuri genocide in 2004. She traveled with Kristof to
villages and refugee camps along the Chad/Sudan border after winning the
2006 "Two-Headed Challenge" commission from the Guthrie Theater and the
Playwrights’ Center. *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. Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The
Public, has called*In Darfur* "A theatrical offering that is also a call to
arms."

After five years of producing plays and donating more than $10,500 to
organizations that help women and girls, van Ginhoven says she was ready to
select a play for the fall production that dealt more directly with the
issues WAM Theatre was founded to address. “I have always said that I don’t
have the resilience to be one of those people on the front lines,” notes
van Ginhoven, who has annually produced entertaining, intellectually
stimulating plays with the goal of donating a portion of ticket sales to
groups that fight social injustice in a direct manner. “This year, all
signs have been telling me to choose *In Darfur* as our fall production. I
have loved this play for four years, since I met Winter and she sent it to
me. It takes on serious issues that are extremely relevant given the
turmoil in the world today, and, in Winter’s unique style, injects the
humor that is so necessary for survival. Some might hesitate to attend a
play that has genocide as its backdrop, but I’ve found that our audiences
are intelligent, caring, and involved. We look forward to taking this
dramatic journey with them.”

Van Ginhoven was inspired to create WAM Theatre after reading the book *Half
the Sky* by Pulitzer-prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Kristof will deliver the 2014 Hardman Lecture at MCLA, just two weeks
before *In Darfur* opens. The working relationship between Kristof and
Miller, combined with WAM’s origins, as well as the play’s subject matter,
made *In Darfur* seem like an inevitable choice for the fall production.
“It’s incredibly powerful,” Kristof has noted, “*In Darfur* is based on a
real case in Darfur’s Kalma camp that I once reported on... (Winter) turned
it into this great play and it both shined a spotlight on Darfur and, in a
broader sense, other humanitarian disasters. It’s an excellent, poignant
play.”

In keeping with WAM Theatre's double philanthropic mission, 25% of the box
office proceeds from this production of *In Darfur* will be donated to the
Mother of Peace orphanage in Ilovo, South Africa, where 13 women have
dedicated their lives to raising children who have lost their families. By
selecting Mother of Peace Ilovo as this year’s philanthropic beneficiary,
WAM honors and celebrates the selfless dedication and important work of
these women. Van Ginhoven became aware of Mother of Peace Ilovo through
Berkshire resident Susie Weekes, a steadfast supporter of the orphanage.
Says Van Ginhoven, “When Susie described the commitment of these women to
providing a better life for otherwise hopeless children, and shared with us
what an impact our donation could make for these women who receive nothing
but a tiny stipend, all the pieces fell into place. I knew Mother of Peace
Ilovo was the right choice to be the recipient of our philanthropic
donation from our fifth fall production.”

*In Darfur* is WAM Theatre’s first production on the Shakespeare & Company
campus. “To have WAM as a part of our extended family has long been a goal
of mine, ever since I met Kristen,” says Tony Simotes, Shakespeare & Co.’s
Artistic Director, “Her professionalism and strong vision to create theatre
that is driven not by commercialism but by a desire to reinforce the voices
of women truly connected to me, and to what I always felt was a bedrock of
Shakespeare & Company, which should be a place where brave and creative
artists can be supported to help us continue our mission to teach, educate,
inform, and entertain. My desire is that WAM and Shakespeare & Company can
accomplish something special together, with a combined vision of
inspiration through theater as its medium, that will continue to be of
benefit to our region and beyond. I have always wanted to open our studios,
theaters, and campus to those that complement our vision and mission. WAM
is more than a guest on our property; they are creative partners.”

WAM Theatre’s New England premiere of *In Darfur* runs from October 30
through November 16 at Shakespeare & Company’s Berry Family Studio in the
Elayne P. Bernstein Center. Previews are October 30 & 31; opening night is
Saturday, November 1. Tickets are available for purchase in person or by
phone at the Shakespeare & Co. box office: 413-637-3353. Tickets are also
available at www.tickets.shakespeare.org <http://www.mahaiwe.org/> with a
per ticket charge of $4.50 for online purchases.

*Quick Facts*

*In Darfur*, a play by Winter Miller, will receive its New England premiere
as WAM Theatre’s fifth annual fall production.

*Theatrical run*

October 30 – November 16, 2014

*Previews:* Thursday, October 30 & Friday October 31, 7 pm

*Opening night:* Saturday, November 1, 7 pm

Sunday, November 2, 2:30 pm

Friday, November 7, 7 pm

Saturday, November 8, 7 pm

Sunday, November 9, 7pm

Friday, November 14, 7pm

Saturday, November 15, 7pm

Sunday, November 16, 2:30pm

*Location*

Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Center, in the Berry Family
Studio (Studio 3)

*Tickets*

Price: $15 - $30

Tickets can be purchased in person or by phone at the Shakespeare & Co. box
office: 413-637-3353.

Tickets are also available at www.tickets.shakespeare.org
<http://www.mahaiwe.org/> with a per ticket charge of $4.50 for online
purchases.

*Philanthropic beneficiary*

In keeping with WAM Theatre's double philanthropic mission, 25% of the box
office proceeds from this production will be donated to the *Mother of
Peace Ilovo* orphanage in South Africa, where 13 women have dedicated their
lives to raising children who have lost their families. By selecting the
Mother of Peace Ilovo as this year’s philanthropic beneficiary, WAM honors
and celebrates the selfless dedication and important work of these women.

*Production sponsors*

*Producer sponsor: Greylock Federal Credit Union*

*Lead partners, *In Darfur* Education Outreach program:* Berkshire Bank,
and Garden Gables Inn.

*Leader sponsors:* Interprint and Pittsfield Cooperative Bank.

*Patron sponsors:* Adams Community Bank and Customs Business Solutions.

*Supporter sponsors:* Abbie von Schlegell, Regina Burgio and Dr. Jay Wise,
DDS.

*Media sponsors:* Berkshire Magazine and the Rogovoy Report.

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 <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>

*About Shakespeare & Company*

Located in The Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company
is one of the largest Shakespeare Festivals in the country, founded in 1978
by Tina Packer.  The organization attracts more than 60,000 patrons
annually, with a core of over 150 artists and more than 30 full-time staff.
The Company develops and performs Shakespeare, classics, contemporary, and
new plays of social and political significance, generating opportunities
for collaboration between actors, directors and designers of all races,
nationalities and backgrounds. Shakespeare & Company embraces the core
values of Shakespeare’s work: collaboration, commitment to language,
visceral experience and classical ideals, expressed with physical prowess
and an embodied contemporary voice.

The Company offers one of the most extensive actor training programs by a
regional theatre in the country, where professionals from all over the
world come to train with the Organization known for its original, in-depth,
classical training and performance methods. Shakespeare & Company is also
home to an award-winning and nationally recognized theatre-in-education
program, one of the largest in the Northeast; it reaches more than 45,000
students annually with innovative performances, workshops and residencies.
For more information, please visit www.shakespeare.org.

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

Celebrating our Fifth Season!

Up Next:
September 21- the final reading of the 2014 Fresh Takes Play reading
series- Waxworks <http://www.wamtheatre.com/waxworks/>
October 30-November 16- *In Darfur <http://www.wamtheatre.com/in-darfur/>*

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

*Thank you for your support!*
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