Leading up to the August 24‘ Change Makers’ benefit, as WAM celebrates its fifth season, we take a look back at the people who helped get us here as well as celebrate our colleagues in the arts who are also celebrating milestones this year. Chester Theatre Company celebrates 25 years this year! WAM encourages all our supporters to check out the final production of their 25th anniversary season, THE AMISH PROJECT by Jessica Dickey, running August 14- 24. Use the code FRESh TAkES to get a 10% DISCOUNT to the play. The code can be used online or at the box office.

Chester Theatre Company (CTC) presents thought-provoking plays that stay with their audience long after the production ends…something it has a lot in common with WAM. As Marketing and Development Director of CTC since 2012, Todd Trebour has worked with WAM to collaborate and promote many projects and is very inline with Kristen’s passion for creating theatre with a strong social and emotional impact. The fifth season of WAM coincides with CTC’s 25th Anniversary, so it gives Todd great pleasure to see the success of the companies and assures their joint-efforts will continue for many seasons to come.

How did you get involved with WAM? How long total?

I’ve known about WAM since I first started working at Chester Theatre Company (CTC) in 2012. Kristen was quick to welcome me into the area’s community of theatre administrators. Since then I have appreciated the philanthropic mission and quality of WAM’s work, as well as Kristen’s generosity as a colleague.

What work do you primarily do with WAM?

WAM and CTC cross-promote where our work intersects – which is often! We are both theatre’s producing contemporary work of consequence and looking to address social issues. CTC produces thought-provoking contemporary theatre, which is more often than not written by women. Over two-thirds of CTC’s productions in the past three years have been written by female playwrights. Because of our interest in new work and premieres, CTC has highlighted WAM’s summer Fresh Takes series in our summer marketing, which gives a “stage” to five new and re-imagined works that tell women’s stories.

How do you feel about WAM turning five years old? What’s your hope for the next five?

I am excited to hear that WAM has turned five! I think the work WAM does to the tell stories of women, and promote a double philanthropic model, is critical to our community (both local and global). I hope that WAM continues to grow its awesome outreach programs in collaboration with Girls, Inc, Heroic Productionz and ACT NOW! I also hope WAM is able to add more fully-staged productions to their season in the next five years.

What’s your favorite WAM memory?

Kristen was one of the first theatre professionals to reach out to me when I arrived in this area. My favorite WAM memory is sitting on the porch at the CTC office talking about our work and ways to collaborate together to support and promote the work of our theaters. To me, it is this generosity and collaborative spirit that are a part of WAM’s “brand.”

What woman inspires you and why?

This is a hard one because I have been lucky to have so many inspirational women in my life, professionally and personally. At this moment, I think I want give a shout-out to the women I worked with in my first year at c3 Northampton, a creative community collective based in Northampton, MA. They were all leaders who inspired me and taught me what it meant to listen, collaborate and be generous. Some of the lessons didn’t hit me until months or years later, but working with them had a profound impact on how I work with others and lead.

Chester Theatre Company is celebrating an exciting milestone as well! What is a production you’re excited about for CTC’s 25th anniversary?

THE AMISH PROJECT is the production I am most excited about this season. Written by Jessica Dickey, THE AMISH PROJECT is a fictional exploration of the tragic 2006 Nickel Mines School House Shooting in the Amish Village of Nickel Mines. Ten girls (age 6-13) were shot (five were killed) by the gunman before he took his own life. In the aftermath of the shooting, the Amish community responded in a remarkable way that gained national media attention. In THE AMISH PROJECT, a single actress (Allison McLemore who was in last season’s production of Karoline Leach’s “Tryst”) plays seven different characters in the community; from a convenience store worker to a shooting victim to the gunman himself. Jessica Dickey’s play is a remarkable tale of redemption, forgiveness and compassion.