(WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – The WAM Theatre Fresh Takes Play Reading Series concludes its 2018 season with “Escaped Alone” by Caryl Churchill, at the Old Town Hall on Sunday, September 16, at 3:30 pm. The reading, directed by WAM artistic director Kristen van Ginhoven, marks the first time the play, which premiered two years ago at London’s Royal Court Theatre, will be presented to Berkshire audiences.

In “Escaped Alone,” the latest work by one of Britain’s greatest living playwrights, three old friends and a neighbor spend a series of summer afternoons in the backyard chatting while visions of apocalyptic horror play out inside their minds — drinking tea while contemplating world catastrophe.

Caryl Churchill, who has written over 40 plays, including “Top Girls” and “Cloud 9,” is known for her theatrically poetic meditations on grand political themes in which form is dictated by the content. “At 77 years of age, Churchill has written a play that captures older women contemplating how to go on in a world that is collapsing around them,” said WAM associate artistic director Talya Kingston, who curates the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. “This feels very relevant, and at WAM Theatre we look for work that both features women who aren’t usually seen on stage and that initiates social and political dialogue.”

 

 

 

 

AT A GLANCE

September 16

Fresh Takes Play Reading

“Escaped Alone”

by Caryl Churchill

directed by Kristen van Ginhoven

 

Sunday, September 16 at 3:30 pm – talkback following

at the West Stockbridge Historical Society

9 Main St., West Stockbridge, Mass.

 

Featuring: Joan Coombs, Nancy Rothman, Eileen Schuyler, and Denise Walker

 

Fresh Takes Play Reading Series

Now in its fifth season, the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series is curated by WAM Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston. The Fresh Takes Series is sponsored in part by No. 6 Depot Roastery and Café in West Stockbridge where our readings of Swallow and Honor Killing, were presented this season. Tickets are $25 general admission, which includes a post-show conversation and the opportunity to meet the cast and director.

Please note all sales are final. No refunds available. Patrons may exchange tickets up to 48 hours before curtain– not including special event one-night performances. No refunds or exchanges for already discounted tickets.

ABOUT WAM THEATRE

Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre is Where Arts and Activism Meet. The company was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven. WAM’s vision is to create opportunity for women and girls through the mission of theatre as philanthropy.

Inspired by the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, WAM donates a portion of the proceeds from its theatrical events to organizations that benefit women and girls.

Since 2010, WAM Theatre has donated more than $41,500 to thirteen nonprofit organizations and provided paid work to more than 200 theatre artists. In addition to the main stage productions and special events, WAM Theatre’s activities include a comprehensive educational outreach program and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series.