[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Announces Boston-based Cast for Reading of THE LIGHT

[Gail Burns]

April 5, 2021



Contact: Gail Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

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

pr at wamtheatre.com; 413.274-8122

Press Photos
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/albums/72157718262279076>



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



WAM Theatre Announces Boston-based Cast for Reading of THE LIGHT

Available for Streaming April 25-May 2

LENOX, MA (April 5, 2021) — WAM Theatre is thrilled to announce the casting
of Boston-based actors Elle Borders and Brandon G. Green in their upcoming
reading of the sensational new play THE LIGHT by Loy A. Webb, directed by
Colette Robert, which will be available to stream from Sunday, April 25, to
Sunday, May 2. Tickets are on sale now.

A surprise proposal gift puts the future of Genesis and Rashad's
relationship at risk when they are forced to confront a devastating secret
from the past. THE LIGHT is a 70-minute, real-time rollercoaster ride of
laughter, romance, and despair that uncovers how the power of radical love
can be a healing beacon of light.

WAM’s reading of THE LIGHT features real-life couple Elle Borders and
Brandon G. Green who will be portraying Genesis and Rashad right from their
own living room.  WAM is delighted to be working with these celebrated
actors. Elle was last seen on stage in Lila Rose Kaplan’s We All Fall Down
at the Huntington Theatre, and Brandon was last seen in Sweat by Lynn
Nottage at the Huntington in a company that won the Elliot Norton Award for
Best Ensemble.  The couple have shared the stage several times in the past
including in the Front Porch Arts Collective/ Underground Railway
production of Black Odyssey, Boston and Company One/Arts Emerson’s
productions of An Octoroon and We Are Proud to Present...

THE LIGHT was playwright Loy A. Webb’s first play.  After its successful
off-Broadway run, she reported that: “I had people telling me how much the
show inspired them. I have college students asking me to send them
monologues. I write to point toward hope. I want my work to be a neon sign
in the darkness: This way out. This way to hope.”

"I am thrilled to have this opportunity to direct a reading of Loy A.
Webb’s incredible play,” added Director Colette Robert. “THE LIGHT is a
powerful, provocative, and beautifully nuanced story about love and truth."

Tickets for THE LIGHT are on sale now. Audiences can book a ticket to the
virtual reading and view anytime during the week long run. WAM aims to make
our virtual readings as accessible as possible, while maintaining our
commitment to providing artists opportunities that are equitable.
Therefore, we invite patrons to pick their own ticket price, ranging from
$15-$50. For more information or to reserve your tickets today, visit WAM
online at wamtheatre.com or call 413.274.8122.

For tickets and more information about the 2021 Season and WAM Theatre’s
programs, events, and artists, please visit www.WAMTheatre.com
<http://www.wamtheatre.com>.

At-a-Glance

THE LIGHT

An Online Fresh Takes Play Reading

by Loy A. Webb

Directed by Colette Robert



Featuring

Elle Borders as Genesis

Brandon G. Green as Rashad



Available for streaming Sunday, April 25-Sunday, May 2, 2021

Tickets $15, $25, and $50



For more information about the 2021 Season and WAM Theatre’s programs,
events, and artists, please visit www.WAMTheatre.com
<http://www.wamtheatre.com>.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Colette Robert (she/her) is a director and playwright from Los Angeles and
New York with a passion for stories about time, history, identity, joy, and
hope. WAM Theatre: Debut Selected Theatre Credits Elsewhere: STEW (Page
73), Native Son (PlayMakers Rep), Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio
Theatre), On the Exhale, Mary’s Wedding, The Mountaintop (Chester Theatre
Company). Upcoming: Co-Artistic Director of the 38th Marathon of One-Act
Plays at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Creative inspiration: Strong Visuals,
Heart, Sincerity. Membership/Affiliations: SDC, Ensemble Studio Theatre
Artist Member, New Georges Affiliated Artist, Lincoln Center Directors Lab
Alum, Adjunct Lecturer at NYU. Community Engagement/Activist work: Frequent
volunteer with The 52nd Street Project and Reading Partners. Selected
training: MA, RADA/King’s College London. BA, Yale University. Awards/proudest
achievements: As a playwright, her play The Harriet Holland Social Club
presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the
Renaissance Hotel received a grant from New York City’s Women’s Film, TV,
and Theatre Fund for a production in 2021 (co-produced by New Georges and
The Movement Theatre Company). Connect: coletterobert.com

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Loy A. Webb (she/her) is a Chicago born playwright, tv writer and attorney.
Her plays include The Light (MCC Theater 2018/2019, Outer Critics Circle
nomination for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play; The New Colony,
2017/2018, Joseph Jefferson Award), and His Shadow (16th Street Theater
2019/2020, Joseph Jefferson Award). She was an inaugural Tutterow Fellow at
Chicago Dramatists. Loy holds a B.A. in Political Science from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a J.D. from The John
Marshall Law School. TV writing credits include AMC’s NOS4A2 and BET’s Ms.
Pat.

ABOUT THE CAST

Elle Borders (she/her) is a Boston based Actress and Playwright. Current
Role With WAM Theatre: Genesis in The Light. Regional:  Mr. Joy (Kitchen
Theatre Company- Special Presentation);  We All Fall Down (Huntington
Theatre Company); Black Odyssey Boston (Front Porch Arts
Collective/Underground Railway Theater- 2020 Elliot Norton Award Best
Ensemble); The Wiz (Lyric Stage Company); An Octoroon, We Are Proud to
Present… (Company One Theatre/ArtsEmerson); the world premiere of How Soft
the Lining (Bad Habit Productions); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello (Actors’
Shakespeare Project). Written Works: Joy (Huntington Theatre Company).
Readings/Workshops: Fresh Ink, Quicksilver Theatre Company, Huntington
Theatre Company. Radio/Podcasts: “Circle Round Story Time”on WBUR.
Education: BFA in drama from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.  Memberships/
Affiliations: SAG-AFTRA; AEA. Creative Inspiration: Elle enjoys working on
pieces that blend art, activism and education. Her greatest joy in life is
performing/creating with her husband Brandon G. Green. Final Word: "I may
be little, but I shade the ground I walk on."

Brandon G. Green (he/him) is a Boston-based artist and educator from Selma,
AL. Current Role with WAM Theatre: Rashad (The Light). Selected Theatre
Credits Elsewhere: Sweat (Huntington Theatre Company; Elliot Norton Award,
Best Ensemble), Black Odyssey (Front Porch Arts Collective/ Underground
Railway; Elliot Norton Award - Best Ensemble), Nat Turner in Jerusalem
(Actors Shakespeare Project), The Scottsboro Boys (SpeakEasy Stage), Mr.
Burns...A Post-Electric Play (Lyric Stage) An Octoroon (Company One/Arts
Emerson; Elliot Norton Award - Best Actor), We Are Proud To Present...(Company
One/Arts Emerson). Selected Training: Alabama State University (BA),
Brandeis University (MFA) Membership/Affiliations: AEA Creative
Inspiration: My great-grandmother, who performed educational skits during
the Voting Rights Movement. I carry that marriage of the arts and activism
in my bones.Proudest Moments: Telling stories of the diaspora with Elle.
Add our families to the audience and I'm going to be overwhelmed 9 times
out of 10. Final Word: "Hold a good thought." - JLD

WAM Current Sponsors

WAM’s current sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Berkshire Taconic
Community Foundation, Blue Q, Blue Spark Financial, Brabson Library &
Educational Foundation, Canyon Ranch, Chez Nous, The Dylandale
Foundation, Feigenbaum
Foundation, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Haven Cafe and Bakery, Health
Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins, Interprint, Lake House Inn, Lee
Bank, Only in my Dreams Events, Onyx Specialty Papers, Outpost Productions,
Prix Fixe, RB Design Co., The Rookwood Inn, T Square Design Studio, Toole
Insurance, and a. von schlegell & co.

WAM Theatre’s 2021 Season is also supported in part by grants from The
Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative, Berkshire Regional Planning
Commission, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Mass Humanities. And also
by grants from the Alford-Egremont  Cultural Council, Dalton Cultural
Council, Lee Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, Otis Cultural
Council, Sandisfield  Cultural Council, and the West Stockbridge Cultural
Council  – local agencies supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council,
a state agency.

ABOUT WAM THEATRE

WAM Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Berkshire County,
MA, that operates at the intersection of arts and activism. WAM creates
theatre for gender equity and has a vision of theatre as philanthropy.

In fulfillment of its philanthropic mission, WAM donates a portion of the
proceeds from their Mainstage productions to carefully selected
beneficiaries. Since WAM’s founding in 2010, they have donated more than
$80,000 to 19 local and global organizations taking action for gender
equity in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual
trafficking awareness, midwife training, and more.

In addition to Mainstage productions and special events, WAM’s activities
include innovative community engagement programs and the Fresh Takes Play
Reading Series. To date, WAM has provided paid work to more than 500
theatre artists, the majority of whom are female-identifying.

As a civic organization that embraces intersectional feminism (feminism
that acknowledges how multiple forms of discrimination overlap), WAM
understands that to address one piece of systemic discrimination means we
have to address them all. This is on-going personal and professional work
at WAM for the staff and board, detailed in their recently released
accountability
plan <https://www.wamtheatre.com/wam-accountability-plan/>.

WAM Theatre has been widely recognized for having a positive impact on
cultural and community development in the region. WAM is the recipient of
the Creative Economy Standout Berkshire Trendsetter Award and previously,
was named Outstanding Philanthropy Corporation of the Year by the Western
MA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Kristen van
Ginhoven, WAM’s Producing Artistic Director, was honored by the Berkshire
Theatre Critics Association (BTCA) with the prestigious Larry Murray Award,
presented at the discretion of the BTCA Board to a person or theatre
project that advances social, political, or community issues in Berkshire
County.



For more information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com <http://www.wamtheatre.com>

###


-- 
Gail M. Burns (She/Her/Hers)

*Marketing + Publicity Associate*
https://www.wamtheatre.com/
413-458-4246

*Our 2021 Season!*
LETTERS TO KAMALA <https://www.wamtheatre.com/showsandevents/kamala/> | THE
LIGHT <https://www.wamtheatre.com/showsandevents/light/> | KAMLOOPA
<https://www.wamtheatre.com/showsandevents/kamloopa/>


Make a donation now <https://www.wamtheatre.com/donateonline/> to WAM
Theatre!
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