LENOX, MA (September 28, 2022) – WAM Theatre is proud to offer a workshop on the Black Theatre Aesthetic in connection with our production of Cadillac Crew. These two 90-minute online sessions happening on October 9th and October 30th, will be led by Tatiana Godfrey, Co-Artistic Director of Impro Theater Company in Los Angeles and Literary Manager at the Cincinnati Playhouse. Community members are invited to join Tatiana to deepen their understanding of the Black theatre aesthetic and the importance of its representation.
“Both seeing Cadillac Crew and taking this workshop is doing work to highlight and uplift Black voices,” said Teaching Artist Tatianna Godfrey (former WAM Theatre Dramaturg). “For me, it also goes a long way towards helping theatre-goers build a more diverse canon of plays that they love and support.”
Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks famously asked, “What is a Black play?” This two-session workshop will explore excerpts of texts by Contemporary American Black writers, ask critical questions of them, and then use our in-class analyses to frame the cultural heritage of Cadillac Crew. Students will take away a greater knowledge of Black playwrights, will be able to identify themes and motifs that recur in the Black aesthetic, and will be able to articulate the importance of representing this aesthetic. Participants are expected to purchase a ticket to Cadillac Crew and attend both the pre- and post-show workshops.
WAM Theatre audiences know Tatiana Godfrey as our former Company Dramaturg (ROE, Kamloopa), but she is also the Co-Artistic Director of Impro Theater Company in Los Angeles and the Literary Manager at the Cincinnati Playhouse, with considerable experience as a theatre teacher and performer.
These special 90-minute workshops can be taken over Zoom from the comfort of participants’ homes and are open to all, regardless of experience level. The workshops are expected to sell out, and registration is now open. Visit www.wamtheatre.com/workshops/ to reserve your spot or to learn more. The workshops are provided on a Pay-What-You-Can basis, but participants are also expected to purchase a ticket to Cadillac Crew (live or streamed) as part of the workshop experience.
AT A GLANCE
The Black Theatre Aesthetic Workshop with Tatiana Godfrey
Sunday, October 9: 2-3:30pm EST (Online, via Zoom)
AND
Sunday, October 30: 2-3:30pm EST (Online, via Zoom)
Pay-what-you-can for all participants.
Visit www.wamtheatre.com/workshops/ to reserve your spot or to learn more.
Limited space.
BIO:
Tatiana Godfrey (she/her/hers) is a dramaturg, improviser, educator, and actor who dabbles in medieval studies. WAM Theatre: ROE (Assistant Dramaturg), Kamloopa (Production Dramaturg), Flying Cloud/WAM workshop for 8-10 year olds (Teaching Artist). Theatre Teaching: Instructor and Teaching Assistant for dramaturgy courses at the University of Massachusetts; five years teaching drama at the Cincinnati School for Creative & Performing Arts; improv and acting classes taught at Los Angeles’ Impro Theatre, Improv Cincinnati, Ohio State Thespian Conference, Georgia State Thespian conference, Teacher’s Assistant at the Atlantic Acting School. Community Engagement/Activist work: She works directly with the students of Operation Exodus, a faith based organization that provides education and family resources to the underserved community in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. Selected Dramaturgy Credits: No Dogs Allowed (Atlantic Theatre Company), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Cincinnati Shakespeare Company), The Revolutionists (Silverthorne Theater Company), Good Hair (Pipeline Theatre Company PlayLab). Selected Performance Credits: Phil Spector (HBO) and Outside (Rio Contrada), and as an Improvisational Comedian at: Improv Cincinnati, ComedySportz Cincinnati, Impro Theatre. Creative inspiration: Tatiana believes in being in the room and drawing her inspiration from those with her in the present moment. Training: Tatiana holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and an MFA in dramaturgy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. www.tatianagodfrey.com
WAM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
WAM Theatre empowers community through art. Community engagement is a central part of our activist mission. Each season, in accord with our main stage productions, we present invigorating conversations, workshops, professional development and devising ensembles that are responsive to the needs of the community and the time in which we are living.
WAM SUPPORT
WAM Theatre is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act for the National Endowment for the Arts. Recently, WAM was recommended for an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
WAM’s sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Blue Q., Berkshire Roots, Blue Spark Financial, Downright Pro, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Garden Gables Inn, Guidos Fresh Marketplace, Health Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins Attorneys at Law, Interprint, Only in my Dreams Events, Onyx Specialty Papers, Outpost Productions, Prix Fixe, RB Design Co., T Square Design Studio, Toole Insurance, a. von schlegell & co, and the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts.
WAM Theatre’s 2022 Season is also supported in part by grants from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, The Feigenbaum Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), Mass Humanities, Lee Bank Foundation, Scarlet Sock Foundation and U.S. Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant; as well as 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.
ABOUT WAM THEATRE
WAM Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Berkshire County, MA, that operates at the intersection of arts and activism. 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 beneficiaries. Since WAM’s founding in 2010, they have donated more than $80,000 to 23 local and global organizations taking action for gender equity in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training, and more.
In addition to Mainstage productions and special events, WAM’s activities include innovative community engagement programs and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. To date, WAM has provided paid work to more than 500 theatre artists, the majority of whom are female-identifying.
As a civic organization that embraces intersectional feminism (feminism that acknowledges how multiple forms of discrimination overlap), WAM understands that to address one piece of systemic discrimination means we have to address them all. This is on-going personal and professional work at WAM for the staff and board, detailed in their recently released accountability plan.
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. Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM’s Producing Artistic Director, was honored by the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association (BTCA) with the prestigious Larry Murray Award, presented at the discretion of the BTCA Board to a person or theatre project that advances social, political, or community issues in Berkshire County.
For more information, visit www.wamtheatre.com
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