[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Girls Ensemble Presents "What’s That Sound?" February 17

[Gail Burns]

January 31, 2017

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/>

2015/2016 Girls Ensemble performance photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/sets/72157662351798771


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WAM Theatre Girls Ensemble Presents What’s That Sound? February 17

“We envision a world where young women aspire to become confident leaders
in their communities”

Lenox, MA [January 31, 2017] - The Second Cohort of WAM Theatre’s Girls
Ensemble program will be presenting a public performance of their original
theatre piece, currently titled What’s That Sound?, on Friday, February 17
at 7:30 pm in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company. The
original show the girls have developed centers on a group waiting to board
a bus to go to a protest. They all bring a lot of baggage, metaphorically
and literally. As they chat, questions are posed about identity, race,
gender, fear, age, history, and protest. Suitable for ages 10 and up. The
performance is free of charge and open to the public.

Beginning in January, four young women ages 13-18, selected by audition,
 met on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons to create this new piece of
devised theatre under the leadership of WAM teaching artists Amy Brentano,
Barby Cardillo, and their assistant, Lia Russell-Self. Devised theatre is a
collaborative process where the participants use different theatre
techniques to create original material around a chosen starting point.
Participants
in this cohort hale from Pittsfield, Dalton, Lee and Richmond.

This year’s Ensemble members are: Iris Courchaine (Lee High School); Debora
Lytle (Reid Middle School); Hailey Mack (Richmond Consolidated); Dylan Redd
(Wahconah Regional High School).

Here are some of their comments on the program:

"I wanted to be a part of an ensemble that would stand up for girls'
rights."

"I feel that Girls Ensemble will give girls a way to be confident in their
skin... by learning about other people and how they feel and what they
think about themselves."

"[Girls Ensemble] opens up a conversation because a lot of people have
these ideas but they aren't sure how to communicate them and they aren't
given the opportunity to."

When asked how this program addresses the participants’ immediate concerns,
teaching artist Brentano explained, “With the immediate access to news
through social media, young people are often bombarded with information and
acutely aware of topical events. Our sessions have been a safe place to
process the questions and opinions they hold and an opportunity to express
their thoughts and feeling through creating theatre.”

“Having a diverse group of young women lends itself to a broader vision of
our culture and each other,” teaching artist Cardillo added. “The current
upheaval of our world is what these girls want to talk about. This program
allows them to channel their thoughts and ideas into an original piece of
theatre that is its own form of protest.”

The WAM Girls Ensemble is an International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA)
endorsed project and, following their public performance in February, this
cohort will attend an ISTA Festival in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2017. They
will join students from international schools around the world to spend
three days devising theatre around the theme of race, inclusion, prejudice,
and oppression. Based in the United Kingdom, ISTA brings together young
people, artists and teachers from different countries in different settings
to experience, create and learn about theatre. ISTA produces over 50
international arts events each year. www.ISTA.co.uk <http://www.ista.co.uk/>

The Girls Ensemble will embark on a school tour in March and April. Schools
interested in booking the show should contact WAM Education Coordinator,
Alicia Maher alicia at wamtheatre.com.  If you or a young woman you know would
like to be part of future WAM Education programs, visit
http://www.wamtheatre.com/wam-education/ for more information.

Funding for this program is provided by multi-year grants from Greylock
Federal Credit Union, the Dylandale Foundation, and the International
Schools Theatre Association (ISTA), as well as support from Berkshire Bank
Foundation, the Brabson Library and Educational Foundation, Interprint, The
Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation, and the Richmond Cultural Council,
the Lenox Cultural Council, and the Cultural Council of Northern
Berkshire, local
agencies that are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state
agency.

AT A GLANCE

February 17, 2017

What’s That Sound? (working title)

Created and Performed by The WAM Girls Ensemble

Led by Teaching Artists Amy Brentano, Barby Cardillo, and Lia Russell-Self

Featuring Iris Courchaine, Debora Lytle, Hailey Mack, and Dylan Redd

Friday, February 11 at 7:30 pm

at Shakespeare & Company's Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, 70 Kemble St.,
Lenox, MA

What’s That Sound? is suitable for ages 10 and up.

The WAM Girls Ensemble is comprised of girls aged 13-18 selected by
audition from throughout Berkshire County. Under the leadership of WAM
teaching artists Barby Cardillo and Amy Brentano, the girls use different
theatre techniques to create material around their chosen starting point,
sharing the girls’ own perspectives and stories as part of the process.
Ensemble members will attend the International Schools Theatre
Association (ISTA)
Festival in Atlanta, Georgia in March, followed by a spring tour of local
schools.

Cast and Creative Team:

ABOUT AMY BRENTANO

(Teaching Artist for WAM’s Girls Ensemble in Fall 2015 and for the 2016
Spring Tour) Amy was the film and theatre director at Berkshire Country Day
School for four years, and she teaches and directs theatre at Richmond
Consolidated School. In the past she has worked for Berkshire Theatre
Group, Barrington Stage Playwright Mentoring Project, and the Southern
Berkshire Regional School District. Brentano was the Co-artistic Director
for Red Earth Ensemble and Producing Director for Don Quijote Experimental
Children’s Theatre at Lincoln Square Theatre. She performed under the
direction of Moises Kaufman at Theatre for the New City; and at La MaMa ETC
as an ensemble member of Teatron. Most recently she appeared in an original
piece at Shire City in Pittsfield with Kickwheel Ensemble.

ABOUT BARBY CARDILLO

(Teaching Artist and WAM Education Associate) Barby is a professional
performer and teaching artist and also holds a BA in social work from MCLA.
She came to WAM in 2011 having been cast in the mainstage production of
“The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls” Also for WAM, she has
performed in the Fresh Takes Series, The 24 Hour Theatre Project, the Word
by Word Festival and the Ten x Ten arts Festival As a teaching artist,
Barby has been creating and directing drama workshops and productions in
the Berkshires since 1992. With Shakespeare and Company she has directed
Shakespeare productions at many area elementary, middle and high schools.
She worked for  “Shakespeare in the Courts” for 6 years directing
productions with adjudicated youth as a part of an alternative sentencing
program. For 10 summers she was the Director of the Theatre Program at Camp
Hawthorne in Maine. She directed kids 10-17 in a full -length production
every summer. For 8 years, Ms. Cardillo was the drama instructor at the
Valleyhead School, a residential treatment facility for girls aged 12-20
who have experienced severe psychological trauma. Her work with the girls
was part of a comprehensive therapeutic arts program designed to heal
through creative expression using visual and performing arts. Barby has
worked since 1999 with Community Access to the Arts (CATA) an organization
who’s mission it is to celebrate and nurture the creativity of people with
disabilities through shared experiences in the arts. She creates and
implements workshops for adults and teens with developmental disabilities
in multiple settings throughout the Berkshires. As an Artistic Mentor with
the Barrington Stage Company, Barby has lead groups of teens in creating
theatre from their own stories as part of the award winning Playwright
Mentoring Project (PMP). Barby was also the creator and teacher for the
K.E.W.L (kids entertained while learning) Beanz, high school improv troupes
that she has taught at Drury High, Pittsfield High, Taconic High and
Hillcrest Educational Center. She has been seen on stage in many varied
roles with WAM Theatre, Aglet Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Group, Shakespeare
& Company, Berkshire Fringe Festival, Mixed Company, Castle Hill Family
Theatre and the Boston Playwrights Theatre as well as being a founding
member of the Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe and a player with “The
Majesters” an improv group in West Springfield.

ABOUT LIA RUSSELL-SELF

(Teaching Artist Assistant/Teaching Artist) After graduating with a BA in
Theatre and Creative Writing from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Lia has
explored theatre and film throughout New England with companies such as
Riverwolf Productions (Amherst, MA), The Berkshire Fringe (Pittsfield, MA),
and Plays in Progress (Hudson, NY), most recently appearing as Tituba and
Danforth in Hubbard Hall’s rendition of The Crucible in Cambridge, NY. A
trained physical actor and avid writer, Lia is also a co-founder of 84
Productions, an all-arts company dedicated to intersectionality.

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
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<http://www.wamtheatre.com/stars-in-the-orchard-2016/> | Bakelite
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Make a donation now
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