[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Wraps Up Second Successful Fresh Takes Season

[Gail Burns]

October 3, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gail Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

www.wamtheatre.com

pr at wamtheatre.com; 518.243.9627

Press Photos can be found at:

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

WAM Theatre Wraps Up Second Successful Fresh Takes Series

Tickets now on sale for Holy Laughter October 29-November 22

LENOX, MA (October 3, 2015) – As rehearsals begin for WAM Theatre’s fall
MainStage production of Holy Laughter the company is basking in the glow of
a successful season of Fresh Takes Play Readings. Curated by WAM’s Artistic
Associate Molly Clancy, all five of this year’s plays were penned by living
female playwrights,  directed by women and featured many local professional
theatre artists.

Clancy selected plays that had had successful productions elsewhere, but
were new to the Berkshire audience. “The plays in our lineup this year were
vibrant in humor and palpable in desolation,"Clancy shared. "Above all I
think they urged audiences to seek community and find connection. The plays
were provocative and riveting. It was a delight to watch such talented
actors spark conversations on education, socioeconomic issues, gender
equality, and mental health. As a theatre artist, your biggest reward is
stirring conversations that continue beyond the theatre-- I can certainly
say we have done that with our Fresh Takes Reading Series this year.”

All five of this year’s plays were penned by living, female playwrights and
included the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Water by the Spoonful by Quiara
Alegría Hudes, directed by Clancy, in August. Fresh Takes also features
local actors and directors, artists audiences have grown to love on area
stages over the years. Popular actress Tod Randolph directed  the first
reading in the series - Silence by Moira Buffini - in April. WAM Artistic
Director Kristen van Ginhoven directed the final reading, of The Effect by
Lucy Prebble,  in September;  and 2014 Fresh Takes curator Kelly Galvin
directed the May reading of Tall Girls by Meg Miroshnik.

In June WAM partnered for the first time with the Lift Ev’ry Voice Festival
celebrating African-American heritage and culture in the Berkshires with a
Fresh Takes reading of Noms de Guerre by Jacqueline E. Lawton, who was
named one of the top 30 national leading black playwrights by Arena Stage’s
American Voices New Play Institute.

"Fresh Takes was a rich montage of groundbreaking works with women at the
helm," Clancy explained. "During the series this year we involved more than
40 professional theatre artists. Through Fresh Takes we created a space to
begin a dialogue with our audience. We have been listening closely to the
topics  and themes they are most interested in exploring, and what pieces
excite them. We will continue to use this information to inform our
selection of Main Stage shows.”

In fact, both playwright Catherine Trieschmann and director Megan
Sandberg-Zakian, who are teaming up for WAM’s upcoming fall MainStage
production of Trieschmann’s Holy Laughter, were introduced to the
Berkshires and WAM during the inaugural Fresh Takes Series in 2014.

Tickets for Holy Laughter are now on sale and rehearsals begin this week
with performances scheduled for October 29–November 22 at the Sydelle and
Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center St. Germain Stage in Pittsfield.   The
cast features Amie Lytle (Around the World in 80 Days, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater) as Abigail, with Dana Harrison
(Shakespeare & Company’s Private Lives), Ron Komora (The Poet in An Iliad
at Capital Rep), Kimberlee Monroe (Maid’s Door at the Billy Holiday
Theatre, NYC), and Benjamin Zoëy playing a variety of roles. This poignant
comedy follows Abigail, an Episcopal priest who finds that the reality of
leading a church is radically and hilariously different than what she
learned in seminary.  Hymns, liturgical dance and a wicked tongue lift this
antic portrait of a small, struggling congregation to comic heights.

In keeping with WAM’s double philanthropic mission 25% of the box office
proceeds from Holy Laughter will be donated to eighth beneficiary, the
Hands in Outreach http://www.handsinoutreach.org/ and Sisters for Peace
http://www.sistersforpeace.org/ girls education project in Nepal. See
www.wamtheatre.com/holy-laughter/ for more information.

Tickets are $15-$40 and are being sold through the Barrington Stage Company
(BSC) box office. They can be purchased in three easy ways: by calling the
BSC box office at 413-236-8888, going in person during box office hours to
30 Union Street in Pittsfield, or buying online through the BSC ticketing
page. https://tickets.barringtonstageco.org/

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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