WAM Theatre to Kick Off Fresh Takes Reading Series with THE LAST WIFE

WAM Theatre is pleased to announce the cast for the opening event in the 2016 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series, The Last Wife by Kate Hennig, directed by WAM Artistic Associate and Fresh Takes Curator Molly Clancy. The reading will take place on Sunday, April 17 at 3 pm at No. Six Depot Roastery and Café, 6 Depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA.

Fresh Takes also takes pride in featuring local actors, artists audiences have grown to love on area stages over the years. The cast of The Last Wife features Kristin Wold (Shakespeare & Company's Shakespeare's Will, Connecticut Repertory Theatre's All In The Timing) as Kate, Tom Jaegar (Shakespeare & Company's Henry V and Young Company Conservatory Director, ) as Henry, Gabrielle Straight (Barrington Stage Company's Hairspray, Berkshire Theatre Group's Annie) as Bess, Caroline Calkins (WAM's Silence, Shakespeare & Company's Private Eyes) as Mary, David Joseph (Shakespeare & Company's Midsummer night's Dream and Henry V) as Thom and Theo Maurino (Berkshire Theatre Group's Oliver, Shakespeare & Company's Riotous Youth) as Eddie. For detailed information on the cast go to: http://www.wamtheatre.com/the-last-wife/

Since 2014 the Fresh Takes series has been introducing Berkshire audiences to ground-breaking works by established women playwrights, focusing on relevant, provocative, uplifting plays that encourage dialogue and deal with current and controversial issues in artful ways. The 2016 Fresh Takes season is sponsored by No. Six Depot and Kristin and James Hatt.

A contemporary retelling of the compelling relationship between Katherine Parr and Henry VIII; The Last Wife invites audiences to a powerful examination of patriarchy, sexual politics and women's rights. Kate is smart, poised, and passionate, a rising star in a world of intense competition, but her obligatory marriage to Henry is rife with the threat of violence and deceit and her devotion to the education of his daughters is putting strain on her marriage. The play had its world premiere in 2015, with a sold out extended run at the Stratford Festival in Canada.

"I'm delighted that WAM is doing this reading because it speaks to your mandate to get the stories of women out there," playwright Kate Hennig explained. "Women's stories were dangerous to tell and it is still dangerous to present women's points of view of history. It is my raison d'etre as a playwright to see women's stories through their own eyes and with a contemporary lens."

"Hennig's writing is richly layered with intelligence and wit, making the dynamic power-plays in this script truly engrossing," Clancy said. "I'm excited to see the incredible team we've assembled for this reading bring Hennig's contemporary re-telling of this historic and passionate story to life."

The season kicks off with this April reading, followed by Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler, directed by Kelly Galvin on May 15; The Oregon Trail by Bekah Brunstetter, directed by Estefanía Fadul on June 19; Samsara by Lauren Yee, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian on August 21; and Grand Concourse by Heidi Shreck, directed by Sheila Siragusa on September 11.

This year, in response to our audiences request for deeper discussion around the women's issues raised in each play, WAM Theatre is partnering with OLLI to co-present a companion class called 'Fresh Takes/Your Take'. Starting on the Monday following the May reading of Photograph 51, WAM Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven will share the underpinning of the piece and its author, setting the scene for discussion of audience questions, reactions, and experiences evoked by the Sunday reading.

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