‘Escaped Alone’ Reading to Take Place This Weekend

LENOX, MA  – The WAM Theatre Fresh Takes Play Reading Series concludes its 2018 season with Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill at 3:30 pm on Sunday, September 16, at a new location - the Old Town Hall, home to the West Stockbridge Historical Society at 9 Main Street in that town. WAM Theatre is very proud to be able to include this iconic feminist playwrights work in our Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. This is the first time this play, that premiered two years ago at London’s Royal Court Theatre, will be presented to Berkshire audiences.

“I’m walking down the street and there’s a door in the fence open and inside there are three women I’ve seen before… so I go in.”

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, in known for her theatrically poetic meditations on grand political themes in which form is dictated by the content.

“Caryl Churchill’s magnificent new play unleashes an intricate, elliptical, acutely female view of the apocalypse” – Susanna Clapp, The Guardian

“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. 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”, Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston, who curates the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series, remarked, “Escaped Alone is a great fit.”

“WAM welcomes Joan Coombs (Madam in Emilie La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight, 2014 & 2017) and Eileen Schuyler (Miss Alyssa in The Old Mezzo, 2013) back to the fold for this reading, along with two distinguished newcomers to WAM, Nancy Rothman and Denise Walker, “ said Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM Artistic Director who will be directing the reading. “All four artists live and work extensively in this region. To pair them with the brilliant work of Caryl Churchill is a dream! I couldn’t be more delighted to work with them to bring this story to life for Berkshire audiences for the first time.”

WAM is grateful to No. 6 Depot Roastery and Cafe for giving the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series such a warm and welcoming home for its first five seasons. In a happy turn of events the Fresh Takes audience is growing so the series is relocating to the West Stockbridge Historical Society in the Old Town Hall on Main Street for the final reading of our 2018 series. More room for more guests and all the delicious snacks and fresh brewed coffee at No. 6 Depot are only a short walk away.

Support for this reading has been provided by Jadwiga and Donald Brown.

You can get ticket information and more by going here

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. For more information, visit www.WAMTheatre.com

(press release sent to WSBS from WAM Theatre for online and on-air use, article image taken from WAM's Facebook Page)