WAM Theatre Reveals Casting for FRESH TAKES Reading of ALIEN GIRLS

WAM Theatre has announced casting for the July installment of its 2025 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series: Alien Girls, written by Drama League Nominated and 2024 O'Neill Finalist Amy Berryman (Walden, The New Galileos, God's Flesh), directed by WAM's Artistic Director Genée Coreno (Fragments of Outside, Madge Love).

This heartfelt and cosmic piece showcases some of the Berkshires' finest talents: Berkie Nominee for Best Actress Sarah Keyes (Survival of the Unfit, The Skin of Our Teeth), Nicole Orabona (Fragments of Outside, Romeo & Juliet), and Naire Poole (Hollow Roots, Comedy of Errors). 

This compelling new work will be presented at Ventfort Hall Gilded Age Mansion & Museum in Lenox, MA, with two performances on Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Tickets are now on sale. www.wamtheatre.com/alien-girls/

Tiffany (Poole) is pregnant, and her Best Friend Carolyn (Orabona) is trying to be happy for her. But when Carolyn's true feelings go viral in the form of a personal essay, the fallout threatens to upend their decades-long friendship. Traversing time and the evolving dynamics of their bond, Alien Girls is a meta-theatrical dark comedy that explores the joys and tensions of building both art and life—and the consequences of choosing one over the other. A trio of characters Joy, Gina, and Milan will be played by Keyes that appear throughout Tiffany and Carolyn's relationship evolution.  

With Alien Girls, Amy Berryman tenderly delves into the questions many of us carry quietly—too afraid to speak them aloud. Berryman asks, “Can women have it all? What does it mean to be a mother? Can friendship between women survive the huge life changes that happen in your thirties in modern-day America?” 

“All these questions were on my mind when I started writing the thorny friendship between Carolyn and Tiffany in Alien Girls,” said Berryman. “Alien Girls is my queer, metatheatrical, dark comedy about the societal pressures put on women to make a choice between creating life and creating art.” 

WAM Artistic Director Genée Coreno reflects on the upcoming reading, “This story leapt off the page, under my skin, and into the more tender spaces of my heart. I knew I had to direct this play.  Berryman offers a poignant exploration of modern motherhood—especially for women discovering themselves as artists.” Coreno continues, “Alien Girls speaks to those navigating the intricate terrain between creativity, identity, and the lives we choose to lead and not to lead—those parallel selves that continue to orbit our present.”

WAM Theatre's Fresh Takes Play Reading Series spotlights new plays that provoke dialogue around social justice and gender equity. Alien Girls exemplifies the theatre's mission to amplify underrepresented voices and perspectives and to celebrate the complexity of women's lives, choices, and creativity. 

“Berryman welcomes bold, complex, and multi-layered women to center stage,” says WAM Theatre's Managing Director Molly Merrihew, “I love how her work exemplifies WAM's commitment to supporting vibrant, female artists who are breaking the mold to illuminate the invisible bonds between women, art, and the worlds we carry within us. WAM is honored to support the ongoing development of this poignant piece, and welcome an incredibly talented group of Berkshire artists to bring it to life.”