(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – A “Made in the Berkshires” evening of A Woman’s Work takes place on Friday, March 23, 2012, at 7:30 pm, at the Unicorn Theatre at Berkshire Theatre Festival, featuring new works by screenwriter Maria Nation, playwrights Jane Denitz Smith, Gloria Miller and Ilene Tetenbaum, and writers Susan Merrill, Mary Mott and Elizabeth Elliott. The evening will include Prosecco, sparkling waters and dessert, and a panel discussion with the artists about their work. Also featured will be music by the Beeline Ramblers.

Taking its name from the Kate Bush song, “This Woman’s Work,” the evening celebrating women writers is part of the March 2012 Berkshire Festival of Women Writers.

Among the works being sampled are new stories by Mary Mott and Susan Merrill; a scene from the new Lifetime film Lovesick by Maria Nation, a true story of sex addiction, featuring actress Corinna May; a short scene from Williamstown playwright Jane Denitz Smith called After Prom, about a  dysfunctional family; poems by award-winning poet Elizabeth Elliott; and a scene from Adjustments, a gentle comedy for cynical times, by Gloria  Miller and Ilene Teitlebaum, featuring Kate Maguire.

Tickets are $15; proceeds will benefit Made in the Berkshires 2012 festival of local art and artists. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Theatre Ticket Office at 111 South St., Pittsfield, Mass., or by calling 413. 997.4444 or online at Colonial Theatre. The ticket office is open Monday-Friday 10am–5pm, Saturdays 10am–2pm or on any performance day from 10am until intermission. Tickets may also be purchased with cash at the Unicorn Theatre prior to the performance. The Unicorn Theatre Box office will open one hour prior to the performance the day of the show and tickets are subject to availability.

Made in the Berkshires co-curators Hilary Somers Deely and Barbara Sims have gathered together the stories of women writers and composers here in the Berkshire hills for an evening of performances that will conclude with a glass of prosecco and a conversation with the writers about their process. The evening is being held as a benefit for the Made in the Berkshires festival of local art and artists to be held in October 2012.

Hilary Somers Deely is co-curator of Made In the Berkshires, a new works festival that was produced in October 2011 at the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield and the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. An actress, director and producer, Deely has headed three academic theatre programs in leading independent schools, is an emeritus member of the Berkshire Theatre Festival board, a member of the advisory board for the Berkshire Fringe and, most recently, joined the Fringe in their artists’ residency at Mass MOCA in a world premiere production of The Waypoint. She has voiced three roles in Gregory Whitehead’s BBC 4 radio plays, stage managed, and acted in several productions at Joan Ackerman’s Mixed Company, co-produced the third year of Ten Minutes in the Berkshires, directed an Equity touring company of My Children, My Africa, and has appeared in staged productions at the Berkshire Theatre Festival and The Runway.

Barbara Sims is co-curator of Made in the Berkshires and was a co-producer for the Free Concerts in Lilac Park series in 2010 and 2011. Her theater credits include A Streetcar Named Desire with Natasha Richardson and Noises Off with Patti Lupone on Broadway, as well as roles Off-Broadway in the Roundabout Theater Company’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane with Alec Baldwin; Juno and the Paycock, Arms and the Man directed by Roger Rees at Circle in the Square Theater; The Hope Zone with Olympia Dukakis; Signature Theater Company, Night Seasons, Laura Dennis; Public Theater, Winding the Ball, Communion; Phoenix theater, Trip to Bountiful with Ellen Burstyn, and Laughing Wild. She has also performed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geva Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, Stages Repertory Theatre, and Houston Shakespeare Festival. Her film and TV credits include Law & Order: SVU, Guiding Light, PBS End of the Line, and Cornflower Blue.