Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

WAM Theatre announces 17th season of arts, activism and women’s voices

WAM Theatre announces 17th season of arts, activism and women’s voices

WAM Theatre’s artistic director Genée Coreno.

David Dashiell

WAM Theatre will mark its 17th anniversary season with a lineup of mainstage productions and community programming focused on amplifying women’s voices, empowering young people and exploring the intersection of arts and activism.

The award-winning, women-owned company’s season will feature intimate storytelling, sharp comedy and historical works, alongside educational and community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences and support regional partnerships.

Artistic Director Genée Coreno said: “This season, WAM steps into a bold inquiry about influence, power, and the responsibility that comes with both, especially in moments when communities are searching for meaning. Now more than ever, we are reminded that theatre is a space to gather, to question, and to practice the kind of world we wish to inhabit.”

WAM stands for “Where Arts and Activism Meet,” and the theatre was co-founded in 2010 by Kristen van Ginhoven, now the executive director of Project SAGE in Salisbury, and Leigh Strimbeck in response to the book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Inspired by the call to “join an incipient movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty by unlocking women’s power as economic catalysts,” WAM’s vision is to create opportunities for women and girls through a mission of theatre as philanthropy.

This season, all WAM activities and events are united in their investigation of timely questions such as: What do we inherit? What do we believe? And what future are we brave enough to build? The season includes a full production of “Rooted,” by award-winning playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer (May 1-16); two readings in the WAM Fresh Takes series — “Amani,” by critically acclaimed playwright a.k. payne (June 14), and “Gorgeous,” by playwright Keiko Green (Aug. 16); WAM’s Summer Soirée benefit (July 26); and the fall mainstage production of “Camp Siegfried,” by Tony Award nominee Bess Wohl (Oct. 15-Nov. 1).

In addition, WAM’s 2026 season deepens its investment in the community with projects and programs in partnership with like-minded organizations, including the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and MOSAIC, the Elizabeth Freeman Center, the Lenox Library and Berkshire Community College. These activities spotlight changemakers working throughout the region to provide vital services and to engage the arts for democratic learning and expression, intergenerational dialogue and collective belonging.

To date, WAM has provided paid work to more than 500 theatre artists, the majority of whom are female-identifying. In fulfillment of its philanthropic mission, WAM donates a portion of proceeds from its mainstage productions to selected recipients. Since its founding in 2010, the theatre has donated more than $105,000 to 26 local and global organizations supporting gender equity in areas such as girls’ education, reproductive justice, human trafficking awareness and midwife training.

Managing Director Molly Merrihew said: “Artists and educators are the changemakers who nurture communities into vibrant, sustainable ecosystems fueled by collective, creative, and collaborative action. We hope you will join us.”

WAM Theatre has been widely recognized for its positive impact on cultural and community development in the region. This season is expected to deepen that impact.

Passes and single tickets are on sale now. For more information, visit wamtheatre.com.

Latest News

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

Notice of Formation of Kaits Kleaning LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05-22-2026. Office Lo-cation: Dutchess county. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 24 Attlebury Hill Road, Standfordville NY 12581.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

Keep ReadingShow less

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

Keep ReadingShow less
Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.