LENOX, MA (August 22, 2024)— Artistic Director Genée Coreno and Managing Director Molly Merrihew are delighted to announce that WAM Theatre’s Fall production of Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey (The Amish Project, The Rembrandt, Row After Row) will be a co-production with Central Square Theater. The production will begin its run in the Berkshires at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre in Lenox October 18 – November 3; then transfer to Central Square Theatre in Cambridge in November giving both audiences in Eastern and Western Massachusetts a chance to experience the history, science and magic of the performance.

“WAM is thrilled to be partnering with Central Square Theater (CST), for Galileo’s Daughter, as part of our 15th Anniversary Season,” said WAM’s Managing Director Molly Merrihew. “We last came together for the powerful production of Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau, and we are excited to extend the reach of this poignant script from the Berkshires to Boston.”

“I’m really looking forward to returning to our collaboration with WAM after Pipeline became a casualty of COVID,” said CST’s Artistic Director Lee Mikeska Gardner. “Genée, Reena, and I share values and a reach for artistic innovation that is the hallmark of both companies. Everyone at CST is looking forward to the creative synergy between the two companies.”

The production team, led by visionary director Reena Dutt, whose work was last seen in the Berkshires at Chester Theatre Company’s Guards at the Taj. Galileo’s Daughter helmed by Dutt will feature artists from across the state.

“Co-productions allow us to create longer contracts for artists, resource-share to bring down our production costs, and uplift the ground breaking stories that celebrate women and girls with a wider audience– extending the reach of our mission and creating more opportunity for women and non-binary theater artists,” said Merrihew. “We could not be more thrilled to work in collaboration with CST, whose work, like WAM, centers social justice and gender politics through theater.”

Rattled by a personal crisis, a writer flees to Florence to study the letters between Galileo and his eldest daughter Maria Celeste. Caught up in the threats against her father, Maria must abandon her work and join a convent. The writer’s discovery of Maria’s strength and tenacity inspires her own pursuit of purpose. Alternating between past and present, this play is a personal examination of faith, forgiveness, and the cost of seeking and speaking truth. The Chicago Reader called it “a smart and poignant” story.

Director Reena Dutt explains, “The show travels with a writer working through her own crisis by investigating the history of a brilliant woman long since buried with time. Unearthing their lives in this fast-moving, funny, and heart-warming play is going to be a delight, particularly because the folx at WAM and CST hold all women and our stories with such grace and care. It’s the perfect group of people with whom to bring this story to life.”

In concert with their theatrical programming, WAM continues its commitment to partnering with emerging theater artists from historically marginalized groups with a new multi–year apprenticeship cohort who will join the creative team of WAM’s fall mainstage, Galileo’s Daughter, at the Bernstein Theatre.

“The hope is to build meaningful relationships with apprentices over time to cultivate a sense of creative belonging and nurture paths to future collaborations,” said Coreno. “While the apprenticeship is focused on practical training theater artists backstage, the season also provides multiple devised theater workshops including Elder Ensemble, Teen Ensemble, and the first WAM bilingual workshop for artist-activists and Berkshire community members.”

TICKETS
Tickets for Galileo’s Daughter go on sale the week of August 26, 2024. For tickets and more information about WAM Theatre’s 2024 Season, programs, events, and artists, please visit wamtheatre.com.

MORE ABOUT THE TEAM
Genée Coreno (Artistic Director WAM Theatre) is a director and producer with a passion for devised theater created in collaboration with women, girls, and non-binary artists and designers. WAM Theatre: Artistic Director.  Selected Directing Credits: Outside (Culture Lab, LIC), Madge Love (Theater Mitu & The Brick),  The Hopelessly Hopeless Story of All Good Girls (The Brick), “Is This Clear Enough?” (The Poetry Project), Dutchman (UnUrban Cafe, LA), Selected Producing Credits: The Possessed Girls of St. Mary’s (Reading, at Brick Aux), thisamericanplay (pop-up theater by Blue Flamingo), The Stronger & Mother Love (Alchemical Studios), The World is Round (BAM Fisher). Select Company Management Credits: Under the Radar Festival (The Public Theater), The Outer Space (The Public Theater), National Mobile Unit Tour of Sweat (The Public Theater), Mobile Unit’s Twelfth Night (The Public Theater), Various Performances (Big Dance Theater). Community Engagement/Activist Work: Former Manager of Development and Engagement at Every Mother Counts and Clinic Escort at Choices; Adjunct Professor at Purchase College, Women and Performance. Training: MA in Performance Studies, NYU; BA in Drama Studies, Purchase College; Embodied Voice: Intensive Vocal Workshop; The Song of the Goat; SITI Company Summer Intensive; Theater Mitu Artist Fellowship (Japan). Creative Inspiration: I’m inspired by large-scale international work that demonstrates a commitment to dance theater practices and film-making. Connect: (website) www.fringeandfur.org. IG: @Genéealyse_c 

Lee Mikeska Gardner, she/her (Artistic Director Central Square Theater) continues her mission of creating access and opportunity for underserved artists. For eight years with The Nora Lee focused on the feminine voice. In this, her eleventh year, Central Square Theater builds on the history of both The Nora and Underground Railway with stories and artists across a spectrum of our community. At Central Square Theater: Cloud 9 (Elliot Norton awards for Outstanding Direction and Production), Shoe Leather Epidemiology for CST’s virtual Women In Science Theater Festival,  The Midvale High School Fiftieth Reunion (with Gordon Clapp), Saving Kitty (with Jennifer Coolidge), Journey to the West, Her Aching Heart, Grounded, and Arcadia. Selected additional directing credits: the web series of The Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri’s Inherit the Windbag at Mosaic Theater in Washington, DC; Watbanaland, Life During Wartime, and Goodnight, Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, at Woolly Mammoth, Caesar and Dada at Washington Shakespeare Co., Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie at The Kennedy Center; and Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2 at Signature Theatre in WDC. Selected acting credits include: A House in the Country at Charter Theater (Helen Hayes award), the title role in Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight (Elliot Norton award for Outstanding Actress) and The Half-Life of Marie Curie (at CST), Sideman, Souvenir at 1st Stage; and The Two-Character Play at Spooky Action. As an Educator: Lee has taught or served as a guest artist at Colleges and Universities across the nation including Emerson; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Middlebury College, among others. 

Jessica Dickey (playwright, Galileo’s Daughter) is an award-winning playwright and actor. Playwriting: Jessica’s most recent play, The Convent, a dark comedy about a group of women who try to live like nuns in the middle ages, premiered Off-Broadway this year in a sold out co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Rising Phoenix, and WeatherVane, and is now being developed into a series for Sarah Jessica Parker’s company, Pretty Matches. Jessie’s play The Rembrandt (about a museum guard who decides to deliberately touch a Rembrandt painting) had a sold out run at Steppenwolf starring John Mahoney. Other plays have been premiered Off-Broadway in New York and produced around the country: The Amish Project, about the 2006 Nickel Mines school shooting in an Amish community; then Charles Ives Take Me Home, about a violinist father and his basketball star daughter; and Row After Row, a dark comedy about Civil War reenactors. Her next world premiere is coming up this season on the west coast: Nan and the Lower Body is a dark comedy about the creation of the Pap Smear and her maternal grandmother (commissioned by Manhattan Theater Club and the Sloan Foundation). Acting Credits include: Cry It Out (Humana Festival), Pocatello (Playwrights Horizons), and performances at Manhattan Theater Club, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Barrow Street, Cherry Lane, Keen Company, the Guthrie, McCarter, the Huntington, Denver Center, and George Street. TV Credits include: Homeland, Shades of Blue, The Big C, Law & Order, and the Lifetime movie Amish Grace. Memberships & Awards: Jessica is a member of the exclusive New Dramatists and a recipient of the prestigious Stavis Award. Contact: jessicadickey.com

Reena Dutt (director, Galileo’s Daughter) is dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories with the bodies, voices, and life experiences of the underheard. Theatre Credits: Her Broadway debut was on The Collaboration at MTC as Assistant Director to Kwame Kwei-Armah of the Young Vic in London, and she most recently assisted Leigh Silverman on Merry Me at NYTW. New York:  Columbia University, Playwrights Realm, A.R.T.  West Coast: UC Riverside, Artists At Play, Coeurage Ensemble, UC Riverside, Greenway Court Theatre, East West Players, Sacred Fools. Upcoming: An Experiment with an Airpump (CalArts), Pang Spa (World Premiere, Chalk Rep). Film: Reena is also a film director and producer, having screened films at over 80 festivals worldwide including Sundance, LAFF, Outfest, Frameline, Cucalorus, NBCUniversal, BET, PBS/Latino, and HBO. Her most recent short film, FOUND, brings voice to transracial adoption through fictional storytelling from the adoptee’s point of view and is currently touring the festival circuit in conjunction with private events with adoption organizations across the country. Dutt directed TOO MANY BODIES, a socially driven music and dance piece advocating for gun reform, which was picked up by NoRAnow.org and Survivors Empowered and received numerous awards in music video and social justice categories. She directed 3 PUFFS OF GOLD, a magical realism piece about domestic violence, and was a finalist for New Filmmakers Los Angeles: On Location competition with her film “SNAPSHOT!” (2011), which explored Angelinos and their diverse roots. Community Activism: Reena was the first South Asian Community Liaison at the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles and served on the board of Theatre of NOTE.  She produced panel discussion connecting 99-seat theater to large theatre houses in the LA area at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and acted as an Associate Producer for Directors Lab West/Connects during the pandemic. Fellowships: Drama League NY Directing Fellow, LCT Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, Project Involve at Film Independent, SFFilm, and Trans Atlantic Partners with the Goethe Institut (Berlin). Connect: reenadutt.com

Molly Merrihew (She/ Her, Managing Director) is an arts executive and nonprofit leader with over a decade of experience in the nonprofit theatre and the for-profit arts and entertainment sector. She has worked collaboratively with organizations, artists, and clients ranging from grassroots ensembles to multimillion-dollar non-profit institutions and for-profit creative enterprises. Molly is a proud advocate of the Berkshire arts community, and her consulting work has also brought her to Boston and New York City. From activist art in found-spaces, to large scale Shakespearean festivals and award-winning audiobook launches, Molly is energized by passionate artists, creative thinkers, and an innate curiosity to meet new people and learn new things. Recent work experience includes spending the past four years at WAM Theatre as Managing Director. Molly spent eight years at Shakespeare & Company working in PR and Marketing. Molly’s journey with WAM actually began in 2014, when she spent four years in the role of Artistic Associate, curating and producing the Fresh Takes Reading Series. After that, she served on WAM’s Strategic Planning and Hospitality Committees for two years. Before moving to the Berkshires, Molly worked at the Florida Studio Theatre in a variety of capacities including communications and patron services. In addition to her full-time work, Molly has led consulting projects for artist organizations and projects in a variety of roles including lead strategist, project manager, grant reviewer, and copywriter. Molly has an M.S. in Arts Administration with a Graduate Certificate in Fundraising Management from Boston University. She graduated with a B.A. in Theatre and English-Creative Writing from the State University of New York at Potsdam. More recently, Molly completed the ‘Transformational Leadership Program for Non-Profit Leaders’ at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. She is the co-chair of Berkshire County Development Alliance, a member of the Berkshire Business & Professional Women association, and a BRIDGE Race Task Force member. 

WAM SUPPORT
WAM Theatre’s 15th Anniversary Benefit Performance of fragments of Outside is supported by many individuals and foundations including: Baystate Financial, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation,  Brabson Family Foundation, Brava/Ombra, Doctor Sax House, The Feigenbaum Foundation, GKV Foundation, Lee Bank Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), Scarlet Sock Foundation, and WomenArts. WAM’s season sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Blue Q., Berkshire Roots, Black Writers Read, Blue Spark Financial, Carolyn Butler,  Greylock Federal Credit Union, Garden Gables Inn, Guidos Fresh Marketplace, Handful Photography, Mill Town Foundation, Inc., Higher Bar, Health Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins Attorneys at Law, Interprint, Onyx Specialty Papers, Outpost Productions, RB Design Co., T Square Design Studio, a. von schlegell & co, and the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. With additional support from Local Cultural Council Grants from the Dalton Cultural Council, Lee Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, Pittsfield Cultural Council, Northern Berkshire Cultural Council,  Otis Cultural Council, Sandisfield Cultural Council, and Washington Cultural Council. WAM was also the recipient of recent support from the New England Foundation for the Arts and  the National Endowment for the Arts, and U.S. Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.

ABOUT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER
Central Square Theater (CST) explores social justice, science and gender politics through theater. Combining artistic excellence, cross disciplinary collaboration and community engagement, CST creates theater where points of view are heard, perspective shifts, and change can happen. Central Square Theater, the oldest female-led theater organization in Greater Boston, engages over 35,000 people annually through live performance, rigorous youth education, and community programs. CST works closely with MIT on Catalyst Collaborative@MIT (CC@MIT), one of the only nationwide partnerships between a world class research institute and a professional theater. CC@MIT creates and presents plays that deepen public engagement with science, while providing creative and emotional experiences not available in other forms of dialogue about science. Central Square Theater’s education programs serve youth throughout Cambridge and Greater Boston via in-school residencies, onsite programs, and collaborations with community partners. Youth Underground (YU), CST’s award winning youth development program, provides a platform for members to broaden their own perspectives and understand others’, and to come to a deeper understanding of self as they cultivate their artistry. Visit CentralSquareTheater.org.

ABOUT WAM THEATRE

WAM Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Berkshire County, MA, that operates at the intersection of arts and activism. Now celebrating its 15th Anniversary Season, 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 recipients. Since WAM’s founding in 2010, they have donated more than $100,000 to 26 local and global organizations taking action for gender equity in areas such as girls education, reproductive justice, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training, and more. 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. For more information, visit www.wamtheatre.com

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