[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Announces Casting for Fresh Takes Reading of “Samsara”

[Gail Burns]

August 2, 2016

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/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WAM Theatre Announces Casting for Fresh Takes Reading of “Samsara”

Lenox, MA [August 2, 2016] - WAM Theatre is pleased to announce the cast
for the fourth in their 2016 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series, Samsara by Lauren
Yee, directed by WAM Theatre Co-Founder Leigh Strimbeck. The reading will
take place on Sunday, August 21 at 3 pm at No. Six Depot Roastery and Café,
6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA.

Katie and Craig are having a baby, with a surrogate who lives in India. A
month before the baby’s due date, Craig travels to the subcontinent, where
he meets Suraiya, their young, less-than-thrilled surrogate. As all three
“parents” anxiously wait for the baby to be born, flights of fancy attack
them from all sides, in the form of an unctuous Frenchman and a
smart-mouthed fetus. WAM Theatre is proud to share this vibrant and
whimsical take on modern day colonialism.

The cast includes Suzanne Ankrum (WAM Theatre’s Emilie,  New Century’s The
How and the Why) as Katie, Jonathan Albert (acting and playwriting
professor at Union College) as Craig. Lipica Shah (Gulfshore Playhouse’s The
Who and The What, NY Fringe Festival’s Coping) as Suraiya, Imran W.
Sheikh (recently
seen at Artists Rep and San Jose Rep) as Amit, and Jean-Remy Monnay
(Founder and President of Soul Rebel Performance Troupe) as the Frenchman.
For detailed information on the cast go to:
http://www.wamtheatre.com/samsara/

Asked what enticed her to direct Samsara, Strimbeck said, “I like the
script a lot because it has a little bit of a whimsical element to it. It’s
about the drive people have to start families, which I certainly
understand, and I love the diversity that is built into the casting.”

Since 2014 the Fresh Takes series has been introducing Berkshire audiences
to ground-breaking works by established women playwrights, focusing on
relevant, provocative, uplifting plays that encourage dialogue and deal
with current and controversial issues in artful ways. The 2016 Fresh Takes
season is sponsored by No. Six Depot and Kristin and James Hatt.

After Samsara, the Fresh Takes Series concludes with Grand Concourse by Heidi
Shreck, directed by Sheila Siragusa, on September 11.

About the Playwright: Lauren Yee

WAM Theatre: Debut. Plays: Include Ching Chong Chinaman (Pan Asian, Mu
Performing Arts, SIS Productions, Impact Theatre),Crevice (Impact Theatre), The
Hatmaker’s Wife (Playwrights Realm, The Hub, Moxie Theatre, AlterTheater,
PlayPenn), Hookman, In A Word, King Of The Yees, Samsara, And The Tiger
Among Us. Venues: Her work has been developed at Lincoln Center/LCT3, the
Goodman Theatre, The Public Theatre, Second Stage, Rattlestick Playwrights
Theatre, Center Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Kitchen Dog, Magic
Theatre, and others. Former Dramatists Guild fellow, MacDowell Colony
fellow, Public Theater Emerging Writers Group member, Women’s Project Lab
playwright, Second Stage Shank playwright-in-residence, and Playwrights
Realm Page One resident playwright. Awards: Her play Samsara has been a
nominee for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the L. Arnold Weissberger
Award. Her play The Hatmaker’s Wife was an Outer Critics Circle nominee for
the John Gassner Award for best play by a new American playwright. Et
Cetera: She is currently a member of the Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab and a
Playwrights’ Center Core Writer. Lauren is under commission from the
Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center/LCT3, South Coast Rep, Mixed Blood, and
Encore Theatre. Training: BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD. Online: www.laurenyee.com

About the Director: Leigh Strimbeck

WAM Theatre: Co-founder of WAM, created and directed in association with
TIS the devised pieces MIRROR, MIRROR and  “I’m Not a Feminist, But….”, 24
Hour Theatre Projects . Elsewhere: The Artistic Director of the Theatre
Institute at Sage (TIS); artist in residence in the theater program at
Russell Sage College; associate member of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble
(BTE) and a member of Actors’ Equity Association. At TIS she adapted,
directed and toured The Trojan Women in 2013, directed On the Verge, Spring
Awakening, Groundedand Wait Until Dark. Currently Leigh is writing a play
in celebration of Russell Sage College’s centennial“Yours,” based on 100
years of the student newspaper. Regional directing: Fools Rush In, Voice of
the Prairie, Sea Marks, The Nest, Daytrips, The Baltimore Waltz and Death
of a Salesman for BTE; Children of a Lesser God, On the Verge, Tonight We
Improvise, The Mystery of Irma Vep and Private Eyes for other regional
theaters. Co-writer and director of Berwick, America! and This House
Builded, both history plays commissioned by their communities. Acting:
Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (twice), Grusha in Caucasian
Chalk Circle, Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew; and Lady MacDuff in
Saratoga Shakespeare Festival’s Macbeth. Last summer Leigh was seen at
Shakespeare and Company understudying Tina Packer in the new play Mother of
the Maid by Jane Anderson – performing five times during the run.
Films: UnCivil
Liberties, Fighting for Freedom and Little BiPeep, for which she won a best
supporting actress award at Atlantic City Cinefest. To see Leigh’s acting
reel go to: leighstrimbeck.com Et cetera: Leigh is also the lead
communications coach for the New York State Defender’s Institute Basic
Trial Skills Program.

AT A GLANCE

Fresh Takes Play Reading Series

Curated by WAM Theatre’s Artistic Associate Molly Clancy and hosted by No.
Six Depot Roastery and Café on 6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA, on
select Sundays at 3 pm.

The 2016 Fresh Takes series is sponsored by No. Six Depot Roastery and Café
and Kristin and James Hatt.

There are only 30 tickets available per reading. Tickets are $20, which
includes a post-show conversation and the opportunity to meet the cast and
director. Refreshments will be available for purchase at the Café. For
tickets and more information visit:

http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-2016/

August 21, 2016

Samsara

by Lauren Yee

directed by Leigh Strimbeck

September 11, 2016

Grand Concourse

by Heidi Shreck

directed by Sheila Siragusa

OUR SEASON SPONSORS

WAM Theatre is funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support
from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities. Our 2016 sponsors include the Adams Community
Bank, Brabson Library & Educational Foundation, Berkshire Magazine,
Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, Canyon Ranch, Custom Business Solution,
Dylandale Foundation, Feigenbaum Foundation, Garden Gables, Greylock
Federal Credit Union, Guido's Fresh Marketplace, International Schools
Theatre Association, Interprint, Dr. Jay Wise, DDS & Dr. Casey Jones, DMD,
 Jon Gotterer DMD, Keator Group, LLC, Lee Bank, Lenox Education Enrichment
Fund, Massachusetts Cultural Council, MAXYMILLIAN Technologies, Nina Molin
MD, No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, Petricca Industries, Pittsfield
Cooperative Bank, RB Design Co., The Rookwood Inn, Rouge Restaurant &
Bistro, Toole Insurance, A. von Schlegell & Co., The Sherman Investment
Group-RBC Wealth Management, and Zabian's Fine Jewelers.

WAM Theatre is also supported in part by grants from the Lenox,
Alford-Egremont, Pittsfield Cultural Council, Cultural Council of Northern
Berkshires , Washington Cultural Council, Monterey Cultural Council,
Stockbridge Cultural Council, West Stockbridge Cultural Council, Richmond
Cultural Council – local agencies that are supported by the Massachusetts
Cultural Council, a state agency.

ABOUT WAM THEATRE

Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre is Where Arts and
Activism Meet. The company was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director,
actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven. WAM’s vision is to
create opportunity for women and girls through the mission of theatre as
philanthropy.

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

Over the past six years, WAM Theatre has donated more than $21,000 to eight
nonprofit organizations and provided paid work to more than 175 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

# # #

-- 
Gail M. Burns

*Marketing + Publicity Associate*
www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com/>
413-274-8122

*Our 7th Season:*Special  <http://www.wamtheatre.com/special/>| 24hr Project
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/2016-24-hour-theatre-project/> | Fresh Takes
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-2016/> | Stars in the Orchard
<http://www.wamtheatre.com/stars-in-the-orchard-2016/> | Bakelite
Masterpiece <http://www.wamtheatre.com/the-bakelite-masterpiece/>

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