Kristen Van Ginhoven News

Producing Artistic Director Daniel Elihu Kramer has announced Chester Theatre Company's 2017 Summer Season, which will feature an American Premiere, two New England Premieres, and the return of actor Joel Ripka in a one-man performance. And, in a first for CTC, the second half of the season will be staged in the round.

The Second Cohort of WAM Theatre's Girls Ensemble program will be presenting a public performance of their original theatre piece, currently titled What's That Sound?, today, February 17 at 7:30 pm in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company.

The Second Cohort of WAM Theatre's Girls Ensemble program will be presenting a public performance of their original theatre piece, currently titled What's That Sound?, on Friday, February 17 at 7:30 pm in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company.

WAM Theatre has put out a call for actor and stage manager submissions for Fresh Takes, a series of three play readings that will take place on select Sundays between March and June. Curated by WAM Theatre's Artistic Associate Molly Clancy, Fresh Takes will give a stage to ground-breaking works - which have been successfully presented elsewhere but are new to our Berkshire audiences - that tell women's stories.

A local steering committee, including Kristen van Ginhoven, co-founder and Artistic Director of WAM Theatre, and community members Jayne Benjulian, Lynn Festa and Mary Lincoln, are organizing a free local event in solidarity with the January 21 Women's March on Washington.

WAM Theatre is delighted to announce that their 2017 Fresh Takes Play reading series will begin with The Flora and Fauna by Alyson Mead, winner of the Arizona-based Bridge Initiative: Women in Theatre New Work Contest.  The play chronicles the celebrations and challenges of a female friendship that spans almost 30 years. Additionally, this opening reading of the Fresh Takes Series will be a partnership with the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, with a portion of the box office proceeds from the reading going to the Festival.

A local steering committee, including Kristen van Ginhoven, co-founder and Artistic Director of WAM Theatre, and community members Jayne Benjulian, Lynn Festa and Mary Lincoln, are organizing a free local event in solidarity with the January 21 Women's March on Washington.

WAM Theatre is delighted to announce they have recently been the recipients of two substantial grants - an unrestricted grant of $5,000 from the Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) Charitable Foundation, and a $2,000 grant from the Dramatist Guild Fund in support of the company's 2017 Fresh Takes play reading series.

WAM Theatre was honored as the Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation by the National Philanthropy Day Committee of the Western MA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals at a luncheon on Wednesday, November 16th at The Log Cabin in Holyoke, MA.

The winners of the First Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards - already being nicknamed "The Berkies" - will gather at 5 pm on Sunday, November 13, 2016  at Mr. Finn's Cabaret in Pittsfield.

WAM Theatre is excited to announce they will be hosting the first pilot Berkshire Leadership Summit - an event for women aspiring to leadership positions in the non-profit theatre in both artistic and operational tracks - in October of 2017.  

Every year WAM Theatre donates a portion of the box office proceeds from their fall Main Stage production to agencies that benefit women and girls locally, nationally, or internationally. The success of their co-production with the Berkshire Theatre Group of The Bakelite Masterpiece by Kate Cayley enabled the company to present their largest donation yet to their 2016 beneficiaries - the Berkshire Immigrant Center (BIC) and Suzi Banks Baum's New Illuminations Project.

The winners of the First Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards have been announced. Seventeen arts journalists voted on 120 nominees in 25 categories chosen from artists in the 75 live theatre productions mounted in Berkshire County and adjacent areas between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016.

In the last twelve months, more than 300,000 people attended a live theatre production in or around Berkshire County. With 75 stage productions employing hundreds of professionals, making theatre is an important cog in the area's cultural economy. In fact, many consider the region a hot spot for Broadway bound shows, and a popular summer destination for theatre-goers from around the nation.

Following hard on the heels of the opening of their critically acclaimed co-production of The Bakelite Masterpiece, WAM Theatre's Artistic Director, Kristen van Ginhoven has announced plans for the first event of the company's eighth season in 2017. A special event - a limited run remount of WAM's very successful 2013 production of Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight, written by Lauren Gunderson and directed by van Ginhoven, will run from March 30-April 9, 2017, and be presented at Shakespeare & Company's Tina Packer Playhouse in Lenox. 

Berkshire Theatre Group and WAM Theatre present the American Premiere of The Bakelite Masterpiece, by Kate Cayley and directed by Kristen van Ginhoven, featuring David Adkins and Corinna May. The Bakelite Masterpiece runs at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, September 29 through October 23.

Thanks to a grant from Mass Humanities, WAM Theatre is able to offer a comprehensive audience enrichment program around their upcoming co-production with the Berkshire Theatre Group of The Bakelite Masterpiece by Kate Cayley and directed by WAM Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven. These include post-show conversations with the playwright and other notable scholars, program notes, and a lobby display and resource list exploring Truth and Reconciliation from World War II to today, along with a subsidized ticket program.

Berkshire Theatre Group and WAM Theatre present the American Premiere of The Bakelite Masterpiece, by Kate Cayley and directed by Kristen van Ginhoven, featuring David Adkins and Corinna May. The Bakelite Masterpiece runs at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, September 29 through October 23.

The summer has been exciting for the team at WAM Theatre as the seven year-old Berkshire-based theatre company has received three substantial competitive grants, been honored by the National Philanthropy Day Committee, been nominated for a Berkshire Trendsetter Award and a Nonprofit Awareness Day Excellence Award and WAM's Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven was recently invited to attend the Women's Leadership Conference in San Francisco.

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO Kate Maguire are excited to announce music, comedy and community additions to the fall and winter seasons.