[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: WAM Theatre Announces 2021 Season!

[Gail Burns]

February 16, 2021



Contact: Gai Burns, Marketing and Publicity Associate

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

pr at wamtheatre.com; 518.274-8122

Press Photos
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/wamtheatre/albums/72157718252711652>



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



WAM Theatre Announces 2021 Season

Connecting our pasts and present to our collective future

LENOX, MA (February 16, 2021) — Producing Artistic Director Kristen van
Ginhoven, Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston, and the WAM team
today announced a 2021 season that focuses on exploring our roots, our
ancestors and our legacy in order to move forward towards a rebirth, a
re-emerging, into a future with room for everyone. The season includes Letters
To Kamala by Rachel Lynett, The Light by Loy A. Webb, and Kamloopa by Kim
Senklip Harvey. Tickets to the first two plays of WAM’s 2021 Season are on
sale now!

"We are thrilled to be working with such incredible theatre artists in our
12th season and can’t wait for our WAMily to enjoy their work,“ shared
Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM Producing Artistic Director. “In line with our
recently released accountability plan, the plays WAM will present this
season deliberately shift our gaze away from white-centric stories and
modes of storytelling and invite us all into conversation about a new
future.”

The season begins with two online Fresh Takes Play Readings, starting
with Letters
by Kamala by Rachel Lynett, directed by Nicole Brewer, which will be
available to stream Sunday, March 14,  to Sunday, March 21. In the tense
lead up to the 2020 presidential election, playwright Rachel Lynett
conjures three female American political leaders of the past to share their
wisdom, perspective, and wry humor with VP candidate Kamala Harris.

Missing from our history books, meet three powerful women on whose
shoulders Kamala now stands: Charlotta Bass, the first Black woman
candidate for vice president, Charlene Mitchell, the first Black woman to
run for president, and Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color
to be elected to the House of Representatives, first Asian-American woman
to run in Congress and the first Asian-American to run for president.

Playwright Rachel Lynett explained that following Kamala Harris’s
nomination for Vice President: “I wanted to write a play that explored
pride mixed in with caution, a play that questioned our cultural obsession
with firsts but also made room for understanding the weight that being
"first" carries. Who were the other firsts? What sacrifices did they have
to make to get there and what can we ultimately never compromise on?"

The next Online Fresh Takes Play Reading of The Light by Loy A. Webb,
directed by Colette Robert, will be available for streaming April 25-May 2. 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.

The Light was playwright Loy A Webb’s first play.  After it’s 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 Letter to Kamala and The Light are on sale now. Audiences can
book a ticket to the virtual readings and view anytime during the week. WAM
aims to make both 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.

WAM is also excited to announce that the fall Mainstage production will be
the United States Premiere of Kamloopa by Kim Senklip Harvey (from the
Syilx, Tsilhqot’in, Ktunaxa, and Dakelh Indigenous Nations), directed by
Estafanía Fadul (WAM’s Native Gardens, The Oregon Trail).

Come along for the ride to Kamloopa, the largest powwow on the West Coast.
This high energy story follows two urban Indigenous sisters and their
encounter with a spirited shapeshifter. Together, they battle to come to
terms with what it means to honor who they are and where they come from.
But how do you discover yourself when Columbus already did? Bear witness to
the courage of these women in the ultimate transformation story, as they
turn to the ancestors for help to reclaim their power.

Playwright Kim Senklip Harvey, who will act as a consultant on this US
premiere production states that: “I created Kamloopa to ignite the power
that lives within Indigenous femmes and peoples. This transformation story
is an offer for all of us to be bold and passionate about having the
courage to fully become ourselves.”

Director Estafanía Fadul agrees stating that: “I am grateful to call WAM
one of my artistic homes and am excited to return to direct Kim’s
beautifully visceral play. From the moment I read it, the journey of the
three women at the heart of the story as they struggle to define their
identities within a diaspora resonated deeply with me. It's a story of
sisters, of coming into one's own power and finding one's place within a
larger community. It is told with so much joy, heart, and imagination, and
I cannot wait to share it with audiences.”

Kamloopa artists, dates, and location will be announced later this summer.

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>.

WAM THEATRE 2021 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

LETTERS TO KAMALA

An Online Fresh Takes Play Reading

by Rachel Lynett

Directed by Nicole Brewer

Available for streaming Sunday, March 14-Sunday, 21, 2021

Tickets $15, $25, and $50



THE LIGHT

An Online Fresh Takes Play Reading

by Loy A. Webb

Directed by Colette Robert

Available for streaming Sunday, April 25-Sunday, May 1, 2021

Tickets $15, $25, and $50



KAMLOOPA

Fall Mainstage Production
United States Premiere

by Kim Senklip Harvey

Directed by Estafanía Fadul

Dates TBA



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

Nicole Brewer (she/her) is an antiracist cultural worker who uses theater
to strengthen connections across differences to foster healing, joy and
liberation. WAM Theatre: debut. Selected Theatre Credits: Milk Like Sugar
(St. Louis Black Rep), Ties that Bind (Catholic University) Creative
inspiration:  The complex-constant-chaotic-convex-concave-

Consciousness that makes a life Community Engagement/Activist work:
Facilitator
of Anti-Racist Theatre trainings, Membership/Affiliations:  artEquity
Facilitator Alum, Freelance Artist Resource Producing Collective
Awards/proudest
achievements: I'm most proud of being a caregiver to some extraordinary
children. Final word: What comes next is up to us...I'm encouraged that
this time we may get it right. Connect: nicolembrewer.com IG:
@antiracisttheatre
FB: Conscientious Theatre Training

Rachel Lynett (she/they) is a queer Afro-Latinx playwright. In 2020, Lynett
received commissions from Florida Studio Theatre (As You Are), American
Stage Company (Letters to Kamala) and LatinX Playwrights' Circle (Echo Me).
Their plays have been featured at Magic Theatre, Mirrorbox Theatre,
Laboratory Theatre of Florida, Barrington Stage Company, Theatre Lab,
Theatre Prometheus, Florida Studio Theatre, Laughing Pig Theatre Company,
Capital Repertory Theatre, Teatro Espejo, the Kennedy Center Page to Stage
festival, Theatresquared, Equity Library Theatre, Chicago, Talk Back
Theatre, American Stage Theatre Company, and Orlando Shakespeare Theatre.
In 2017, their play Well-Intentioned White People was honorable mention for
The Kilroy’s and in 2020, Last Night and HE DID IT made the 2020 Kilroy’s
List.  Rachel Lynett is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Alfred
University, the Artistic Director of Rachel Lynett Theatre Company, and the
Executive Director for Page by Page.

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

Estefanía Fadul (she/her) is a Colombian-born, New Hampshire-raised,
NYC-based theatre director primarily of new work. WAM Theatre: director of
Kamloopa, previously directed Fresh Takes readings of Native Gardens and
The Oregon Trail Selected Theatre Credits Elsewhere: Azul (Southern Rep),
Scissoring (INTAR), The Same Day (Sfumato Theatre, Bulgaria), Pranayama
(Juilliard), Agent 355 (Chautauqua) Selected Assistant Directing credits:
ToasT (Public Theater), The Clean House (Williamstown), Iphigenia in Aulis
(Classic Stage Company) Selected developmental work: Maybe You Should Just
(Public Theater), Let Night Fall on the Côte d’Azur (Long Wharf), Derecho
(Latinx Playwrights Circle), Lyons Pride (Playwrights Realm). Film/TV: shadow
to the director on CBS’ Doubt Membership/Affiliations: Center for
Performance and Civic Practice, Society of Stage Directors and
Choreographers, Drama League Directors Council, New Georges Jam, Lincoln
Center Theater Directors Lab. Alumna of: Drama League Directors Project
Fall and TV Fellowships, O’Neill National Directors Fellowship, Clubbed
Thumb Directing Fellowship, Foeller Fellowship at Williamstown Theatre
Festival, Van Lier Fellowship at Repertorio Español, Civilians’ R&D Group,
NALAC Leadership Institute. Training: Vassar College (BA) Awards/proudest
achievements: Awards: New York Stage and Film Pfaelzer Award. One of my
proudest achievements is creating Carla’s Quince, an immersive virtual
theatre experience to mobilize the Latinx vote in the last election.
Connect: www.estefaniafadul.com

Kim Senklip Harvey (she/her) is a proud Syilx and Tsilhqot’in Nation member
with Ancestral ties to the Dakelh, Secwepemc and Ktunaxa communities. She
is a Indigenous Theorist, Cultural Evolutionist and storyteller whose work
focuses on the ignition of Indigenous power and innovating methodological
processes with artistic sovereignty to create joy centered narratives that
nourish the spirits of peoples oppressed by the imperial state. Kim creates
artistic ceremonies to protect and evolve Indigenous cultures and believes
that stories are the most powerful tool we have to provide every organism
the opportunity to live peacefully. Kim is currently working on a tv
adaptation of her award-winning play Kamloopa, she is completing her first
book entitled Interiors: Love Stories from a Salish Plateau Dirtbag and is
in the creation of her next artistic ceremony Break Horizons: A Rocking
Indigenous Justice Ceremony. She is in her final year of her

Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Victoria and all of her
work is with

respect to her Ancestors and for the future generations, whom we owe so
much. Connect: www.kimsenklipharvey.com

Loy A. Webb 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.

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,
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.

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.

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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