[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Announces Collaboration with Arizona’s Bridge Initiative

[Gail Burns]

January 18, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gail Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

www.wamtheatre.com

pr at wamtheatre.com; 413-274-8122

Press Photos can be found at:

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


WAM Theatre Announces Collaboration with Arizona’s  Bridge Initiative

New Work Contest Winner to Get Reading March 19

LENOX, MA (January 18, 2017) -  WAM Theatre is delighted to announce that
their 2017 Fresh Takes Play reading series will begin with The Flora and
Fauna by Alyson Mead, winner of the Arizona-based Bridge Initiative: Women
in Theatre New Work Contest.  The play chronicles the celebrations and
challenges of a female friendship that spans almost 30 years. Additionally,
this opening reading of the Fresh Takes Series will be a partnership with
the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, with a portion of the box office
proceeds from the reading going to the Festival.

The WAM reading will take place at 3:30 pm on Sunday, March 19 at No. 6
Depot in West Stockbridge. WAM Artistic Associate and Fresh Takes
Curator/Producer Molly Clancy will direct.

“I’m honored to be directing The Flora and Fauna for WAM, and excited about
our national collaboration with The Bridge Initiative and our local
partnership with The Berkshire Festival of Women Writers,” said Molly
Clancy. “Supporting women artists is at the heart of WAM’s mission, and I
am especially passionate about supporting new plays written by women.
Joining together with other organizations, nationally and locally, that
share those same values is a wonderful way to open our 2017 season.”

The Bridge Initiative is an Arizona nonprofit working to identify and
empower female artists in the Southwest region. One of it’s co-founders and
co-producing artistic directors, Tracy Liz Miller, was a director for WAM’s
Fresh Takes reading series in 2013.

The Bridge Initiative's New Work Contest received more than 163 eligible
plays and musicals, submitted from 25 states, the District of Columbia, and
international locations.  Over the course of six months, the works were
adjudicated by a team of professional theatre practitioners from both
Arizona and across the country, including representatives from WAM, who
produce, act, direct, write, and teach.  Every submission was scored
anonymously, on criteria of originality, storytelling, dialogue,
characters, and an X factor ("I want to see this play").

“It seemed absolutely necessary to me to connect with WAM Theatre as soon
as Brenda Foley (Bridge Initiative’s other co-producing Artistic Director)
and I began to look at partnering with other companies to give our
playwright more development opportunities,” Miller said. “Having proudly
worked with Kristen previously, I knew that WAM's mission aligned with ours
and that the combination of the Fresh Takes series and our new play contest
was a perfect fit. We all look forward to helping Alyson meet her artistic
mission with this play.”

“Prior to coming to the Berkshires The Flora and Fauna will spend a week in
Arizona, where Mead and New York City-based new play development expert
Stefanie Sertich will be in residence workshopping the play - working on
rewrites and strengthening the piece,” Foley explained. “Then, after WAM’s
reading in March, the new draft will also be read at the Magnolia Theatre
in Ohio and the InProximity Theatre in NYC. Hearing the audience response
in different regions, as well as seeing different artistic teams interpret
her work, will be a huge asset to the playwright as she polishes her script
in anticipation of a full production.”

Additionally, The Bridge Initiative has named two plays Honorable Mention
winners.  Sarah Bierstock's Honor Killing follows an American reporter
investigating a murder in Pakistan. In Anchuli King's White Pearl, six
women from six Asian countries collide in the boardroom of a whitening skin
cream brand.

WAM Theatre will announce the full schedule for their 8th season, including
the rest of the Fresh Takes series, on February 28.

AT A GLANCE

March 19, 2017

Reading of The Bridge Initiative: Women in Theatre New Work Contest winner

The Flora and Fauna

by Alyson Mead

directed by Molly Clancy

http://www.wamtheatre.com/fresh-takes-2017/

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 3:30 pm.

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-2017/


ABOUT THE BRIDGE INITIATIVE

The Bridge Initiative is an Arizona nonprofit working to identify and
empower female artists in the Southwest region, with the aim of gender
parity across all theatrical disciplines.   Its mission also includes
bridging the gap between academia and the professional world to encourage
students to envision a clearer path to becoming lifelong artists.  Visit
www.bridgeinit.com

ABOUT THE BERKSHIRE FESTIVAL OF WOMEN WRITERS

The Berkshire Festival of Women Writers  inspires, nourishes and
strengthens women’s creative voices by offering stimulating workshops and
events year-round designed to encourage women and girls to engage with one
another and their communities, and develop as creative leaders. For the
past six years, hundreds of women writers of all ages, from teens to
seniors, have participated in the annual Berkshire Festival of Women
Writers, held in March, Women’s History Month, featuring workshops,
readings, performances and screenings at venues throughout Berkshire County
MA and the adjacent Berkshire region. Visit www.berkshirewomenwriters.org

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: ALYSON MEAD

Mead studied at Yale University, the Slade School of Art in London, NYU’s
Tisch School of the Arts and with iO West, UCB and Tectonic Theatre
Project. Her award-winning plays have been staged at Off-Off Broadway and
regional theaters around the country and in London, including La MaMa, St.
Mark's Church, 8BC, Pasadena Playhouse, Venus Theatre, Women Playwrights
Conference, Limelight, the Other Space Theater, the Hudson, Atwater Village
Theater and Sacred Fools, among others. She’s published by Original Works
Publishing, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Ensemble Studio
Theatre’s Playwriting Unit and the Los Angeles Female Playwrights
Initiative. Visit www.alysonmead.com

About the Director: MOLLY CLANCY

WAM Theatre: Artistic Associate, Fresh Takes Play Reading Series Curator &
Producer, Director for Water by the Spoonful and The Last Wife, Assistant
Director for In Darfur, How The World Began and Seven Homeless Mammoths
Wander New England. Regional Theatre: Molly currently works at Shakespeare
& Company as the Publicity Director and previously worked at Florida Studio
Theatre (Sarasota, FL) and Home Made Theatre (Saratoga Springs, NY).
Additional Directing: SDC Foundation Observership Class 2015 – 2016,
Charlotte’s
Web and The Wizard of Oz (Forest Lake Theatre) and The Rwandans’ Visit
(Lougheed Festival of the Arts at SUNY Potsdam). Additional Assistant
Directing: Alice Reagan’s Or,  (Shakespeare & Company), Taibi Magar’s Comedy
of Errors (Shakespeare & Company)  Training: SUNY Potsdam (BA in Theatre
and English). Twitter: @MollyClancyy <http://mollyclancyy/>

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; and by the Massachusetts Cultural Council
Cultural. Our 2017 sponsors include the Adams Community Bank, Berkshire
Bank, Berkshire Magazine, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, Brabson Library
& Educational Foundation, Canyon Ranch, Custom Business Solution, Dylandale
Foundation, Futures HealthCore, Garden Gables, Greylock Federal Credit
Union, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, In Touch Printing, International Schools
Theatre Association, Interprint, Dr. Jay Wise, DDS & Dr. Casey Jones, DMD,
 Keator Group, LLC, Lee Bank, Massachusetts Cultural Council, MAXYMILLIAN
Technologies, Methuselah Bar and Lounge, No. Six Depot Roastery and Café,
RB Design Co., TSquared Design Studio, The Rookwood Inn, Rouge Restaurant &
Bistro, A. von Schlegell & Co., the Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation.

WAM Theatre is also supported in part by grants from the Alford-Egremont,
Dalton Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, New Malborough Cultural
Council, Pittsfield Cultural Council, Cultural Council of Northern
Berkshires , Otis 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.

Since 2010, WAM Theatre has donated more than $30,000 to eleven nonprofit
organizations and provided paid work to more than 200 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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