Kyle Boatwright – Co-Creator and Co-Director (she/her) is a Pioneer Valley-based theatre artist, musician, and educator whose work often centers on uplifting underrepresented voices. Current role with WAM: Co-Creator and Director Previous WAM Theatre Credits:  Bright Half Life (Vicky), MisCast Cabaret Selected Theatre Credits Elsewhere: As Director: The Building (Silverthorne Theater), Stoop Pigeons (Smith College Dept. of Theater), Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Smith College Dept. of Theater), As Actor: Intimate Apparel (Silverthorne Theater), Bright Half Life (Silverthorne Theater), The Revolutionists (Silverthorne Theater), Love, Loss, & What I Wore (Majestic Theater), Coriolanus (Rebel Kat Productions, Seattle, WA), Seminar (New Century Theater), A Year with Frog and Toad (New Century Theater) Additional artistic credits: Music Director/Music Designer and Composer: Intimate Apparel (Silverthorne Theater), Mr. Burns (Univ. of Mass. Amherst Dept. of Theater), Legacy Boy (Millrose Music, NYC; co-creator), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Onyx Theater, Las Vegas, NV), God is Dead (original musical; Amherst College Dept. of Music and Univ. of Mass Amherst Dept. of Theater) Creative inspiration: It’s very, very important that we tell the truth in our art, because I think it makes people feel less alone…What you are doing is illuminating humanity. —Viola Davis Community Engagement/Activist work: Kyle is the co-founder and artistic director of Rise Up Productions MA, an Amherst-based collective performing artists that crafts benefit productions to support local nonprofits that, in turn, support all communities. Selected training: Amherst College, B.A. in music composition; Moscow Art Theatre School USA, Stanislavsky Fellowship 2012. Awards/proudest achievements: Through Rise Up Productions MA, raising over $10k total for organizations such as the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Tapestry Health, and supporting a local immigrant in sanctuary Final word: In a world where there’s every reason not to do the hard thing—do it anyway.