Teen Ensemble

Devising Ensembles
Teen Ensemble is a multi-session theatre program where youth in and near Berkshire County, Massachusetts devise original performances for the community.

APPLY HERE!

The application deadline has been extended to April 1st! 
In conjunction with Berkshire Arts Week, Teen Ensemble 2024 will create site-specific performances and immersive experiences inspired by issues facing our community, designed to engage the public in unexpected ways.”

TEEN ENSEMBLE FAQ

When is Teen Ensemble 2024?

Teen Ensemble will meet over spring break and Memorial Day weekend, as outlined below.
**Applicants should be available for BOTH sessions**
THEATRE SKILLS & TRAINING WEEK, APRIL 16-19
A fun & rigorous week of training in activism skills and devised theatre techniques. Teen Ensemble will meet for approximately 4 hours each day, between 10 am-5 pm. Specific session times TBA.  
SITE-SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE INTENSIVE, MAY 24-26
An intensive weekend where we put what we’ve learned into practice! Applicants should expect to meet for a few hours on Friday evening, the majority of the day on Saturday, and half the day on Sunday.
Specific times TBA.

Who should apply to Teen Ensemble?

Applications to Teen Ensemble are open to 15-19-year-olds in the Berkshire County region, who are interested in using the performing arts as a tool for positive change. Prior theatre experience is not required, but enthusiasm and an openness to new experiences is important.

Is Teen Ensemble only for girls?

No! Originally called The Girls’ Ensemble, the Teen Ensemble now welcomes participants of all genders who are committed to valuing people of all genders, and uplifting the voices of gender minorities. Gender minorities include––but are not limited to––trans and cisgender girls and women, trans men and boys, intersex people, and non-binary folks.

► What is devising theatre?

Devising theatre is a collaborative process through which a group creates original performances. Tools used to generate material can include improvisation, games, writing, movement, and more. Sometime the devising process ends in a written script similar to a traditional play, but often devised performances incorporate elements of other art forms such as music and dance which make it difficult to capture by written word alone.

► How does the application process work?

  1. Fill out an application form with some basic information about you (like your name, where you live, how to contact you etc).
  2. You will be contacted by WAM’s Director of Community Engagement.

  3. You may be invited to a brief informal interview, where you’ll have a chance to discuss what excites you about Teen Ensemble, the creative activities you enjoy, expectations for Ensemble members, and any questions you have about the program
You’ll hear back from us in a few weeks.
If it’s a good match, you’ll get an invitation to join WAM Teen Ensemble 2024! If it’s not going to work out this year, we’ll let you know that too.

I will never forget the people and the amazing conversations.  Sharing my thoughts and music with other awesome humans, and learning that I actually CAN sing out loud.
Kris Rock, 2018 Teen Ensemble member

 


Past Highlights

The 2023 Teens Ensemble explored the theme of bodily sovereignty––a practice, orientation, and affirmation of agency in relation to our own bodies and the stories they choose to tell. Using Devised Theatre to co-create a container for learning and self-expression, the Ensemble explored questions including:

  • How can we reclaim our agency?
  • How can we retell our stories in transformative ways?
  • How can we amplify our voices in service of chance?

Read about WAM Theatre’s 2023 Teen Ensemble HERE.

In July 2019, WAM’s Teen Ensemble joined forces with WAM’s new Elder Ensemble to create an original devised performance titled Fractured Dreams.  This performance covered themes from individual ambitions to nightmares to the American Dream.  It played to sold out houses at: the Foundry in West Stockbridge, the Stationery Factory in Dalton, Dewey Memorial Hall in Sheffield and The Mount in Lenox.

In January and February 2019, WAM’s Ensemble Program was in residence at the following schools: Reid Middle School, Pittsfield High School, Richmond Consolidated School, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School.  Each ensemble devises a new short piece under the theme The Boy Who Cried Wolf exploring ideas of truth, lies, who we find believable and who we choose not to believe.  A total of 46 students participated in these ensembles.  This project culminated in a shared performance at Reid on February 1st.

In 2018, twelve ensemble members spent an intensive two weeks in July creating Seeking Justice, a performance that asked timely questions about injustice and the places we look to find Justice.  The ensemble members were paid a stipend and performed to sold out audiences at Lenox Town Hall and the 2018 WAM Gala, where they received a standing ovation. Read more about the creation of Seeking Justice in this Berkshire Eagle article by Jenn Smith.

The 2017 Girls Ensemble program presented a public performance of their original theatre piece, titled What’s That Sound?, at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox and Spectrum Playhouse in Lee. The show centered on a group waiting to board a bus to go to a protest. They explored identity, race, gender, fear, age, history, and protest. The 2017 ensemble went on to perform the piece for their peers at Richmond Consolidated School, Hoosac Valley School and Miss Hall’s School, before traveling together to Atlanta to participate in an ISTA festival.

The inaugural cohort in 2015 created a performance called Miss Labelled that explored the way girls are labelled and dismissed. They performed at Shakespeare and Company before embarking on a school tour to Lenox Memorial High School, Richmond Consolidated School and Hoosac Valley High School, and ending with a public performance at the Spectrum Theatre in Lee.

In April 2022, the Teen Ensemble resumed after a pandemic hiatus. Over the Spring Break Week, seven teenagers joined two WAM Teaching Artists including Talya Kingston and Tatiana Godfrey at the Foundry in West Stockbridge for an intensive week of collaborative art making. The paid experience brought together a group of diverse students from across the region. Inspired by the visionary works produced within the genres of Afrofuturism and science fiction, devised theatre methods were used to envision and build new worlds.

Program Sponsors

Funding for the Teen Ensemble program has been provided by grants from Berkshire Bank, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Brabson Library and Educational Fund, the Charles H. Hall Foundation, Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation, the Dylandale Foundation, the Feigenbaum Foundation, Greylock Federal Credit Union, various corporate supporters and local cultural councils.