Wam Theatre

See schedule oprogramming the programs below are run by a dedicated team of two full-time and four part-time employees, plus many independent contractors who work on specific projects for Wam throughout the year, as well as 60 community volunteers including a passionate boards of directors who provide governance to the organization and oversee Wam's ongoing fiscal health and strategic plan. Mainstage performances: each year, Wam undertakes the ambitious double-goal of producing a high quality theatrical engagement that employs local artist working under professional union contracts, while donating a percentage of the box office revenue to one or more charities that serve the unmet needs of women and girls here in berkshire county and beyond.fresh takes reading series: curated by Wam Theatre's associate artistic director, talya kingston, fresh takes gives a stage to ground-breaking works that tell women's stories onstage. These plays have been successfully presented elsewhere but are new to berkshire audiences. Education program:wam has developed an education program that provides a safe and supportive place for community members from all circumstances to cultivate their own aspirations through focused and imaginative empowerment activities. Accountability work: 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. 2022 seasonin 2022, spurred on by the continued injustices perpetrated against local, national, and global communities of women, our performance season and community engagement programming explored ground-breaking narratives that centered women taking control of their own lives, which proved far more resonant and necessary than we could have predicted.in 2022, Wam theatre:-produced cadillac crew, championing a story that illuminated forgotten leaders who blazed the trail for desegregation and women's rights.-shared a dynamic fresh takes play reading series that was presented in three different venues across the county in collaboration with partner organizations.-celebrated our miscast cabaret, a special benefit performance hosted by jayne atkinson, where Wam artists performed favorite broadway songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast.-provided equitable paid work to more than 35 diverse Theatre artists, creatives, and arts administrators who have been especially impacted by the pandemic.-paid our teen ensemble to concentrate on process over product, exploring themes of afrofuturism over spring break. -deepened our commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility by offering accessible ticketing options, childcare opportunities, community engagement programs, covid safe performances, volunteer training, and equitable benefits to our annual staff, virtual programming, and more. 2022 impact story:leading up to our production of cadillac crew, and in solidarity with banned books week, Wam Theatre hosted a series of erased history conversations between bipoc scholars, storytellers, community leaders, and audiences. The honored speakers included heather bruegl, onawumi jean moss, gwendolyn vansant, dr. frances jones-sneed, dr. eden-rene hayes, amber chand, and nicole m. young-martin. Together, they offered compelling stories and reflections on the lives, legacies and liberator work of black and indigenous women who have been all but erased from our history books. Each gathering took shape in a different location in berkshire county, including the clark art institute in williamstown, berkshire athenaeum in pittsfield, and stockbridge library. Each meeting of the minds offered a unique opportunity to learn about women who have been personally significant and impactful in the lives and liberation work of each speaker. This inquiry into ancestors, those who built the spiritual foundations and movement strategies upon which these women stand, invited community members to consider the women of color in contexts past and present who are working towards civil rights.at our kickoff event at the clark art institute, performance artist, educator and Wam board member nicole m. young-martin invited audiences to imagine the experience of erasure through an original first-person monologue written from the perspective of claudette colvin. In many ways, colvin's narrative epitomizes the way in which countless black civil rights activists were written out of history. Indeed, cadillac crew references claudette colvin's refusal to give up her seat on a montgomery bus prior to rosa parks' similar protest, and acknowledges the internal and external pressures that led to her erasure, including the stigma connected with her black, pregnant, teenage body. Following this evocative sharing, renowned scholar dr. frances jones-sneed retold the legacies of numerous berkshire-based black educators and pathfinders. She noted that local leaders such as these have not only created spaces of radical hospitality for black community members, but actively reshaped educational and cultural institutions for the benefit of all. By the end of the gathering, audience members were reflecting on their own movement stories and relation to histories of oppression.later in the week, at the berkshire athenaeum in downtown pittsfield, we heard from community leader, thought-leader, and current civil rights activist gwendolyn vansant. It was striking to hear the litany of names of black women who have personally touched her life in multifaceted ways, from audre lorde to adrienne maree brown. Vansant is a pioneer in her own right, as the ceo and founding director of bridge, a minority and women-run organization dedicated to cultural competence and social justice with a race, gender and poverty lens.meanwhile, indigenous historian heather bruegl (oneida nation citizen /stockbridge-munsee descendent) reflected on the impact of her initial disconnection from her own cultural heritage. The generational impact of experiences such as forced relocation, conversion, and boarding school is still felt today among indigenous communities originating in the berkshires, and beyond. From this context, bruegl reflected on the power of having someone to look up to who looked like her, and who reflected her indigenous cultural and ancestral heritage.closing the conversation with a dynamic exchange, vansant and bruegl's insights prompted audience members to identify their personal "homework, or the steps that they plan to take to educate their friend and neighbors about erased histories in the berkshires. It was potent to witness how storytelling prompted plans for direct action through this singular event.at our concluding conversation at stockbridge library, social anthropologist and teacher dr. eden-rene hayes underscored the ways in which racial oppression and gendered oppression have colluded in "intersecting invisibility" of black women such as anthropologist elizabeth stubbs davis from our history books. While one audience member was quick to question the role of husband allison davis in that erasure, hayes redirected the audience's attention to the larger social context in which the black couple in a majority white space was trying to eke out an existence in academia. While it is not known whether elizabeth stubbs davis was ever able to complete her phd, as did her husband, it is clear that her research methods sought to give voice to people within her own community in new ways.celebrated storyteller amber chand joined dr. eden-rene hayes at the stockbridge library and closed out the event with a call for each of us to embrace the transformative power of storytelling in our own lives and bodies. What stories are crying to be heard within each of us? What stories can we reclaim, or tell in a new way? How can we make more space for ourselves to tell the stories that will set us free? By the end of chand's sharing, veritable goosebumps could be felt among many attendees, and we were left with questions that may have a life of their own in each of us.