[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Announces Casting for Final 2015 Fresh Takes Reading

[Gail Burns]

August 26, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gail Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

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

pr at wamtheatre.com; 518.243.9627

Press Photos can be found at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157648698789976/#_blank>

WAM THEATRE ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR FINAL 2015 FRESH TAKES READING

for Lucy Prebble’s “The Effect” on September 13

LENOX, MA (August 26, 2015)— WAM Theatre is pleased to announce the cast
for the final offering in the 2015 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series, The
Effect by Lucy Prebble, directed by Kristen van Ginhoven, co-founder and
Artistic Director of WAM Theatre. This second year of Fresh Takes -
contemporary plays written by women and focusing on the unique stories of
women and girls - has proven as popular as the sold-out 2014 inaugural
season with the first four readings selling out. This final reading is also
expected to sell out so all ticket buyers are encouraged to purchase
tickets in advance.

WAM Theatre will present the reading on Sunday, September 13 at 3:00 p.m. at
No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, 6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA.

The cast of The Effect includes Tim Dugan (Associate Artistic
Director/Director of Education of Saratoga Shakespeare Company, Doubt
with Oldcastle
Theatre Company) as Dr. Toby Sealey; Yvonne Perry (The God Game at
Gulfshore Playhouse, Capital Rep & Hudson Stage) as Dr. Lorna James; Enrico
Spada (Founder & Artistic Director, Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park, The
Liar, Shakespeare & Company) as Tristan; and Kristyn Youngblood (They Built
America: The Workers of the Erie Canal, Capital Rep) as Connie. For
detailed information on the cast go to:
http://www.wamtheatre.com/the-effect/

“This cast represents both the strongest established and up-and-coming
actors from the Capital Region theatre scene,” van Ginhoven said. “Yvonne
Perry, one of the region’s most sought after actors, is returning to work
with us again, while Tim Dugan and Kristyn Youngblood are making their WAM
debuts. Enrico Spada is an integral part of the WAM Team as our graphic
designer, and is well known to Berkshire audiences through his work with
Shakespeare & Company, and Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park, which he
founded. We are excited to gather them together to present this intriguing
script written by Lucy Prebble, a finalist for the 2013-2014 Susan Smith
Blackburn Prize, which garnered the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play.”

In this clinical romance, two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree
to take part in a experimental drug trial. Succumbing to the gravitational
pull of attraction and love they manage to throw the trial off-course, much
to the frustration of the clinicians involved. This funny, moving and
perhaps surprisingly human play explores questions of sanity, neurology and
the limits of medicine. WAM Theatre presents this vibrant theatrical
exploration of fate, loyalty and the inevitability of physical attraction.

"I read this play last year in one sitting and it has stayed with me,” van
Ginhoven explained.  “The scientific debate around mental health,
medication and it's effects are as interesting to explore as the human
relationships and examining how we love. This play stretches me as a
director and I'm excited to explore it with this wonderful cast in this
Fresh Takes reading."

The Effect is the fifth and final presentation in the 2015 Fresh Takes Play
Reading Series, curated by WAM Theatre’s Artistic Associate Molly Clancy,
which gives a stage to ground-breaking works – which have been successfully
presented elsewhere but are new to our Berkshire audiences – that tell
women’s stories. Featuring local established and emerging actors and
directors, the series explores the work of provocative contemporary voices.
The series includes a post-reading discussion and will encourage feedback
on which plays audience members would like to see WAM Theatre produce. Find
out more about the series at
http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-play-reading-series-2015

There are only 25 tickets available for this reading. Tickets are $20 and
can be purchased by calling 1-800-838-3006 or going online to
http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-play-reading-series-2015. Due to the
limited availability, advance booking is highly recommended. Food and drink
will be available for purchase at the café prior to the reading, which will
begin in the gallery at 3:00 p.m.

Quick Facts

The Effect

by Lucy Prebble

Fresh Takes Play Reading

Sunday, September 13 at 3 pm, $20

at No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, 6 Depot Street, West Stockbridge, MA.

Ticket info: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1321184

Cast

Tim Dugan as Dr. Toby Sealey

Yvonne Perry as Dr. Lorna James

Enrico Spada as Tristan

Kristyn Youngblood as Connie

Creative Team

Director: Kristen van Ginhoven

Stage Manager: Kristiana Cowcer

About the Playwright: Lucy Prebble

WAM Theatre debut. NYC Theatre: Her smash-hit play, Enron, transferred to
the West End and Broadway in 2010 after sell out runs at both the Royal
Court and Chichester Festival Theatre. In addition to the huge critical
acclaim it has received, Enron also won the award for best New Play at the
prestigious TMA Theatre Awards, and was shortlisted for the Evening
Standard Award 2009. Film/TV: Lucy created the TV series Secret Diary of a
Call Girl, starring Billie Piper, which enjoyed three series and was sold
to Showtime, the major US channel famed for its daring dramas. Other
Plays: Lucy
won the prestigious George Devine Award 2004 for her outstanding debut play The
Sugar Syndrome in May 2004, followed by the TMA Award for Best New Play in
October 2004. She also won the 2004 Critics’ Circle Award for Most
Promising Playwright. Awards: Lucy was also nominated for the Most
Promising Newcomer Award at the Olivier Awards 2004, shortlisted for the
Susan Smith Blackburn Award 2003 and nominated for the prestigious Evening
Standard Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright Award 2003.

About the Director: Kristen van Ginhoven

WAM Theatre: In Darfur (New England Premiere), Emilie (New England
Premiere), The Old Mezzo (World Premiere), The Attic, The Pearls and Three
Fine Girls, and Melancholy Play Elsewhere: The Whale(Adirondack Theatre
Festival), 10 Minute Play Festival (Barrington Stage Company), Petticoats
of Steel (Capital Repertory Theatre), Footloose (Cohoes Music Hall), Children’s
Hour (Siena College), Vendetta Chrome (Emerson College)Selected assistant
directing: 42nd Street (Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada) Two Men
of Florence (Huntington Theatre), Sleuth, Absurd Person Singular
(Barrington Stage Company) Training: Dalhousie University (BA), Queen’s
University (BEd), Emerson College (MA) Et cetera:Kristen is an associate
member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and a theatre
artist for the International Schools Theatre Association. She was a member
of the 2013 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.

About the Cast

Tim Dugan (Dr. Toby Sealey) WAM Theatre: Debut.  Elsewhere:  Associate
Artistic Director/Director of Education of Saratoga Shakespeare Company.
Also with SSC: Macbeth, Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Merchant of
Venice, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and A Midsummer
Night’s Dream.  Other favorite credits include Long Live the Little Knife-Inis
Nua Theatre, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Crucible and The Marriage
of Bette & Boo-Temple University Theaters; Doubt, Song For My Father, Tuesdays
with Morrie-Oldcastle Theatre Company.  Film/TV:  He has appeared in
several commercials, soap operas and independent films.  Training: MFA-Temple
University.  Et Cetera:  Tim teaches Acting at Temple University and St.
Joseph’s University.  Proud Member of AEA & SAG-AFTRA.

Yvonne Perry (Dr. Lorna James) WAM Theatre: Several 24-Hour Play Festivals,
and Costume Designer, Melancholy Play. Elsewhere: Originated the role of
Lisa in productions of The God Game at Gulfshore Playhouse, Capital Rep &
Hudson Stage – and Sheila in Halfway, Nebraska with NYC Fringe.  Also,The
Sisters Rosensweig, A Christmas Story, and Intimate Apparel – all at
Capital Rep.; The Merry Wives of Windsor, – Saratoga Shakespeare; The
Elephant Manand Present Laughter, – Hubbard Hall; The Grass is Greener and
Picnic – Oldcastle Theatre Co.; Dinner With Friends – River Valley Rep.
Film/TV: Rosanna Cabot on the CBS soap As The World Turns, (1993 Soap Opera
Award); Law & Order,CI; Silk Stalkings, Candid Camera, Guiding Light, All
My Children and the sit-com pilot Dads for ABC.  Also, corporate training
videos, narration work, and several web series.  She recently finished the
short films Breakfast of Champions and Key Transitions.Training: BFA:
 Adelphi University.  MA: UAlbany. Online: www.yvonneperry.com Et Cetera:
Yvonne has taught and directed shows at area colleges for over 14 years
(UAlbany, Siena, Union, Skidmore). Proud member AEA and SAG-AFTRA.

Enrico Spada (Tristan) WAM Theatre: Enrico is the Graphic Designer for WAM
Theatre. Elsewhere: Enrico is an actor, director and educator based in the
Berkshires. At Shakespeare & Company in Lenox he has performed in: The
Liar, The Real Inspector Hound, The Winter’s Tale, Richard III,
Hamlet, and Shakespeare
and the Language that Shaped a World. Barrington Stage Company: The Laramie
Project: Ten Years Later. Mixed Company: QWERTY, Five Flights. Enrico is
the founder and artistic director of Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park,
where he has directed A Midsummer Nights Dream and Romeo and Juliet. As an
education artist, Enrico has directed in Shakespeare & Company’s Fall
Festival of Shakespeare and other K-12 residencies for over eight years.

Kristyn Youngblood (Connie) WAM Theatre: Debut. Elsewhere: Most recently
seen in Capital Repertory Theatre’s TYA tour They Built America: The
Workers of the Erie Canal, and the tour of The Remarkable and Perplexing
Case of Henry Hudson. Kristyn also appeared on Capital Rep’s main stage in
Patrick Barlow’s A Christmas Carol as the Spirit of Christmas Past,
directed by Michael Bush. Training:  BA in Theatre from the University at
Albany. Awards: 2012 Irene Ryan Acting Award Nominee. Online:
www.kristynyoungblood.com Et cetera: Arts educator in New York’s capital
region.

About WAM Theatre

Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre was co-founded in
2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and producer Kristen van
Ginhoven to create professional theatrical events for everyone, with a
focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls.

WAM Theatre also has a philanthropic mission, inspired by the book Half the
Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas
Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and donates a portion of the proceeds from its
theatrical events to organizations that benefit women and girls.

Over the past five years, WAM Theatre has donated more than $15,000 to
seven nonprofit organizations and provided paid work to more than 100
theatre artists. In addition to the main stage productions and special
events, WAM Theatre’s activities include a comprehensive educational
outreach program and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. For more
information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>

###

-- 
Gail M. Burns

*Marketing + Publicity Associate*
www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>
413-458-4246

Our 6th Season:
Emilie <http://www.wamtheatre.com/emilie-staged-reading-special-event/> | Fresh
Takes Reading Series
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-play-reading-series-2015/> |  Stars
in the Orchard Benefit <http://www.wamtheatre.com/stars-in-the-orchard/> | Holy
Laughter <http://www.wamtheatre.com/holy-laughter/>

Make a donation now
<https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/WAMTheatreInc/donate.html> to WAM
Theatre!

*Thank you for your support!*
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