Photo by David Dashiell
FRACTURED DREAMS to Debut at July 24 Gala
Two Additional Public Performances Announced
LENOX, MA (July 18, 2019) — WAM Theatre is thrilled to announce a Berkshire County Tour of FRACTURED DREAMS—a collaborative devised production between WAM’s new Elder Ensemble and the Teen Ensemble. The performance is comprised of original writing, music, and movement on the theme of dreams and barriers to dreams, created by the Ensemble members using devised theatre techniques. These Ensembles have been in residence for two weeks at The Foundry in West Stockbridge.
Friday, July 26 at 7pm
at Dewey Memorial Hall
91 Main Street (Rt. 7), Sheffield, MA
Tickets $15, available at the door
Sunday, July 28 at 3pm
in The Stables at The Mount (Edith Warton’s House)
2 Plunkett Street, Lenox, MA
Tickets $15; $10 for members of The Mount
https://www.edithwharton.org/event/wam-theatre-ensemble/
The premiere of FRACTURED DREAMS will be performed at WAM Theatre’s 10th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, July 24th at the Stationery Factory in Dalton, MA. Tickets for this gala performance are going fast, but can still be purchased at: https://www.wamtheatre.com/wam-gala-2019/
Subsequently, FRACTURED DREAMS will be performed on Friday, July 26, at 7pm at Dewey Memorial Hall in Sheffield, MA. Tickets for this performance will be available to purchase at the door for $15.
Then on Sunday, July 28, at 3pm, a performance will be offered in The Stables at The Mount (Edith Warton’s House) in Lenox, MA. Tickets for this performance are $15 (general admission) and $10 for members of The Mount, available to purchase at the door, or in advance from The Mount’s website: https://www.edithwharton.org/event/wam-theatre-ensemble/
Ten women over the age of 65 from all over the Berkshires make up the inaugural cohort of WAM Theatre’s new Elder Ensemble: Marcia Bernstein, Flo Brett, Alyce Kaplan, Lee McClelland, Karen McNulty, Deborah Morris, CD Nelson, Molly Pomerance, Edy Pye, and Nancy Tunnicliffe.
They join WAM’s 2019 Teen Ensemble (whose members are all between the ages of 13 and 18 years): Makenna Albee, Gracie Baczek, Lola Bennett, Tessa Hanson, Camille Kenney, Olivia May, Dylan Redd, Ella Saupe, and Alexis Shandor.
The Ensembles are directed by WAM’s Teaching Artists: Amy Brentano, Sara Katzoff, Talya Kingston, and Lia Rusell-Self.
“Devising original material gives participants a deep sense of ownership while allowing them to delve into themes drawing from all of their diverse talents, interests, personal experiences, wisdom, and bias,” Brentano explained.
“Very young artists offer fearless leaps into the material, bringing their hopes and dreams to the theatrical form,” Brentano continued. “Senior artists bring a depth of vision and delicious narrative to the work, often offering all of us inspiration while sharing their fierce life force that reminds us to savor each moment for all its flavor. As a theatre artist, there is nothing more satisfying than starting from scratch, not knowing where you will end up, then savoring the surprising, rich result of the process.”
WAM’s Ensemble programs are supported by The Feigenbaum Foundation and The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
AT A GLANCE
The WAM Intergenerational Ensemble presents
FRACTURED DREAMS
Devised by members of the WAM Teen and Elder Ensembles
Under the direction of WAM Teaching Artists Amy Brentano, Sara Katzoff, Talya Kingston, and Lia Russell-Self
Wednesday, July 24 from 5:30-8:30pm
at the WAM 10th Anniversary Gala
The Stationery Factory
63 Flansberg Avenue, Dalton, MA
https://www.wamtheatre.com/wam-gala-2019/
Friday, July 26 at 7pm
at Dewey Memorial Hall
91 Main Street (Rt. 7), Sheffield, MA
Tickets $15, available at the door
Sunday, July 28 at 3pm
in The Stables at The Mount (Edith Warton’s House)
2 Plunkett Street, Lenox, MA
Tickets $15; $10 for members of The Mount
https://www.edithwharton.org/event/wam-theatre-ensemble/
ABOUT WAM’S TEACHING ARTISTS
AMY BRENTANO (Teaching Artist) WAM Theatre: Teaching Artist for WAM’s Teen Ensemble (Mis-Labelled, What’s That Sound, Seeking Justice, The Boy Who Cried Wolf), Teaching Artist for In-School Teen Ensemble at Richmond Consolidated School and Pittsfield High School. Elsewhere: She was the film and theatre director at Berkshire Country Day School for four years, and she teaches and directs theatre at Richmond Consolidated School. In the past she has worked for Berkshire Theatre Group, Barrington Stage Playwright Mentoring Project, and the Southern Berkshire Regional School District. Brentano was the Co-artistic Director for Red Earth Ensemble and Producing Director for Don Quijote Experimental Children’s Theatre at Lincoln Square Theatre in New York City. She performed under the direction of Moises Kaufman at Theatre for the New City; and at La MaMa ETC as an ensemble member of Teatron. She appeared in an original piece at Shire City in Pittsfield with Kickwheel Ensemble and is currently the Co-Artistic Director of Bazaar Productions.
SARA KATZOFF (Teaching Artist) WAM Theatre: The Decade Project (10X10 on 10/Upstreet Arts Festival), Everywoman, Facing Our Truth, 24 Hour Theater Project. Elsewhere: Artistic Director, Bazaar Productions/The Berkshire Fringe. Select Directing/Devising Collaborations: Alexis Scheer’s Laughs In Spanish (Boston Playwrights Theater), PASSAGE (developed with Kickwheel Ensemble Theater); The Waypoint (MASS MoCA, artist in residence); The Lathe of Heaven, (Booth Theater) Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, Particularly in the Heartland, The Clean House (Boston University, College of Fine Arts) The Exonerated, (Guest Artist and lecturer, University at Albany) RIOT, The Motherf**ker With the Hat, Dog Sees God (Guest Artist, Mass College of Liberal Arts); This Generation/My Generation, The Second Side (Artistic Mentor and playwright, Barrington Stage’s PMP program) Training: Dell’Arte International, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, MFA directing candidate, Boston University. For more information, visit sarakatzoff.com
TALYA KINGSTON (Associate Artistic Director and Teaching Artist) WAM Theatre: Administrator and Teaching Artist for the Teen and Elder Ensemble programs and Curator for the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. Theatre Teaching: Adjunct Professor of Dramaturgy at UMass, Amherst, Guest Artist at Mount Holyoke College, Visiting Professor of Theatre at Hampshire College, Co-Teacher UMass Study Abroad Program at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, Education Director at Hartford Stage, Visiting Professor at Capital Community College, Educational Program Coordinator at the New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco. Playwriting: Campus Unrest (2018 Play by Play Festival, finalist in the 2019 Bechtel Test Fest), Wave Goodbye (reading at Theatre Truck, semi-finalist for Provincetown Playhouse’s New Plays for Young Audiences), Sheryl Addresses the PGO (The New England Monologues Project), Wishing on Satellites. Dramaturgy: Hartford Stage (Necessary Targets, Write On! Teen Playwrights Series, My Hartford Teen Performance Ensemble Oral History Project), New York Fringe Festival (Helmet), Ko Festival (Seriously.. What Did You Call Me? Written and performed by Onawumi Jean Moss), UMass, Amherst (Gum, Christmas Carol, Bovver Boys, The Last Five Years, Life is a Dream, Late Style). Publications: Scene Magazine, Theater Journal, The Moving Voice, European Stages, Howlround and The Valley Advocate. Training: MFA University of Massachusetts, Directing Fellow at Julliard. Etc: proud member of the Northampton Playwrights Lab, and North-East Regional VP for LMDA Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
LIA RUSSELL-SELF (Associate Producing Director and Teaching Artist) WAM Theatre: Teaching Artist for Girls Ensemble (Seeking Justice, What’s That Sound?), Girls Inc., Teen Ensemble at Reid Middle School (The Boy Who Cried Wolf), Assistant Stage Manager (Ann), Stage Manager (Swallow), Assistant Director (The Last Wife). Elsewhere: Lia has been dedicated to creating a change in the arts scene, one way or another. They have worked with companies locally in the Berkshires, Chatham/Hudson area, and beyond to bridge the gaps of arts, activism, and education with companies such as Flying Cloud (Great Barrington, MA) and WiseBodies (Chatham, NY). Some of their favorite projects include: participating in a web series about college activism (activist, Riverwolf Productions); creating scenes paralleling biblical stories with current social issues (Gospel of Justice, Eighty4 Productions) and co-founder/co-Artistic Director of Eighty4 Productions, an all-arts company dedicated to intersectionality. Directing: The Tempest (Berkshire County Day School), The Typists and The Tiger (Director and Executive Producer, Eighty4 Productions), Disgraced (Assistant Director, Chester Theatre Company). Stage Management: The Tempest: A Musical (GhostLit Repertory Theatre). Acting: When Last We Flew (Real Live Theatre), The Virgin Trial, What’s That Sound? (WAM Theatre), Framing Churches (Performer/Collaborator, Ancram Opera House/Olana State Historic Site). Training: BA in Theatrical Studies and Creative Writing, Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
WAM 10th Anniversary Sponsors
WAM’s 2019 sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Annie Selke, Baystate Financial, Berkshire Gas, Berkshire Hand to Shoulder Center, Berkshire Magazine, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, Blue Q, Blue Spark Financial, Brabson Library & Educational Foundation, Canyon Ranch, Chez Nous, Custom Business Solutions, Dr, Jay Wise, DDS and Dr. Casey Jones, DMD, The Dylandale Foundation, Frankie’s Ristorante Italiano, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Haven Cafe and Bakery, Health Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins, Interprint, J.H. Maxymillian, Inc., Lee Bank, Maggie Barry, New England Public Radio (NEPR), Massachusetts Cultural Council, Only in My Dreams Events, Onyx Specialty Papers, OUTPOST, RB Design Co., The Rogovoy Report, The Rookwood Inn, Salisbury Bank, T Square Design Studio, Toole Insurance, and a. von schlegell & co.
WAM Theatre is also supported in part by grants from the Alford-Egremont Cultural Council, Cultural Council of Northern Berkshires, Hinsdale-Peru Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, New Marlborough Cultural Council, Otis Cultural Council, Richmond Cultural Council, Sandisfield Cultural Council, Sheffield Cultural Council, Washington Cultural Council, West Stockbridge Cultural Council—local agencies that are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
LADY RANDY was sponsored in part by an anonymous donor and PIPELINE is sponsored in part by Carolyn Butler.
ABOUT WAM THEATRE
Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre is celebrating its 10th anniversary of being a place Where Arts and Activism Meet. The company was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven. WAM’s vision is to create opportunity for women and girls through the mission of theatre as philanthropy.
Inspired by the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM donates a portion of the proceeds from its theatrical events to organizations that benefit women and girls.
Since 2010, WAM Theatre has provided paid work to more than 200 theatre artists and donated more than $65,700 to 17 local and global organizations taking action for women and girls in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training and more. In addition to the main stage productions and special events, WAM Theatre’s activities include a comprehensive educational outreach program and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. For more information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com