theater

A Season for Bold Work from WAM

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM Theatre in Lenox, Mass., has announced its upcoming productions in its 2023 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series, a collection of performances by playwrights, actors, and artistic collaborators who carry their diverse experiences into their work as they explore the intricacy of womanhood and self in contemporary America. WAM — “Where Arts & Activism Meet” — is a mission-driven female-led theatrical collective that hopes to engage the community while providing a space for fresh voices to be heard.

Readings in the Fresh Takes Series will include “Port of Entry” by Tayla Kingston, about a TSA in a small New England airport suddenly compelled by new laws banning the entry of Muslim passengers. “In Her Bones” by Jessica Kahkoska conjures a rural winter night in Denver where a young woman learns about the way Jewish heritage has been kept quiet in America’s mountainous west.

Trenda Loftin, a co-chair and youth engagement and arts integration specialist of the Massachusetts chapter GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), and a playwright herself will direct the first show — the award-winning play “Hollow Roots” by Christina Anderson on Sunday, July 16, at 2 p.m., at Edith Wharton’s former home, The Mount. Performed a decade ago at the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater in New York City, Anderson’s “Hollow Roots,” about pushing the idea of a “post-racial society” as far it can go by depicting a Black woman attempting a quest for an almost Christ-like, truly blank person of color in the world, remains as relevant today in its impossibility.

In an interview with “Works by Women” Anderson said, “What would it look like to be unaffected by and/or neutral about race or gender issues? As I crafted my protagonist for the solo play, I thought it might be interesting to have her search for this “person of color with no color to tell her neutral narratives.” Anderson’s single-actor show will be performed by WAM newcomer Naire Poole, who has recently been a regular fixture on another Lenox stage, Shakespeare and Company, where she played Juliet Capulet this winter as well as Elizabeth Darcy in a “Pride and Prejudice” themed holiday presentation of “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley.”

For more on WAM and a complete schedule of events and tickets, go to www.wamtheatre.com

Christina Anderson Courtesy of WAM Theatre

Naire Poole Courtesy of WAM Theatre

  
Christina Anderson Courtesy of WAM Theatre
theater

Latest News

Frozen fun in Lakeville

Frozen fun in Lakeville

Hot-tub style approach with a sledge-hammer assist at the lake.

Alec Linden

While the chill of recent weeks has driven many Northwest Corner residents inside and their energy bills up, others have taken advantage of the extended cold by practicing some of our region’s most treasured — and increasingly rare — pastimes: ice sports.

I am one of those who goes out rather than in when the mercury drops: a one-time Peewee and Bantam league hockey player turned pond hockey enthusiast turned general ice lover. In the winter, my 12 year-old hockey skates never leave my trunk, on the chance I’ll pass some gleaming stretch of black ice on a roadside pond.

Keep ReadingShow less
reporter's notebook

Garet&Co returns to Norfolk

Garet&Co returns to Norfolk

Emma Brockett, Josalyn Cipkas and Tiffany Oltjenbruns in rehearsal for “From All Angles.”

Elias Olsen

Garet Wierdsma and her northern Connecticut-based dance company, Garet&Co, will return to Norfolk for their third annual appearance with Dance Workshops on the next three Sundays, followed by two performances of “From All Angles” in Battelle Chapel on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m.

In “From All Angles,” audience members will witness Garet&Co translate three of the works presented at their fall show, “Can’t Keep Friends,” danced in the round, where viewers can witness each piece from a new angle.

Keep ReadingShow less
dance