WAM Theatre's Digital Production Of ROE Viewed By 1,800+

Every year, WAM Theatre donates a portion of the box office proceeds from their Mainstage productions to organizations that work for gender equity locally, nationally, or internationally.

The success of the first-ever digital production of ROE, directed by WAM's Producing Artistic Director, Kristen Van Ginhoven, enabled the company to present $1,500 each of thier 2020 beneficiaries, the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts (ARFWM), the Railroad Street Youth Project (RSYP), and SisterSong. This brings WAM's donation total since its founding in 2010 to more than $80,000.

"More than 1,800 people viewed ROE online, which is close to the number of audience members we get for a three week live run - an incredible success," van Ginhoven enthused. "And people were watching from all over the world, so we were able to expand our programming reach and introduce a whole new audience to our work."

"On behalf of the entire SisterSong team, I want to thank WAM Theatre for including us as a beneficiary for the ROE production! The donation will help us continue our fight for reproductive justice for women and girls all around the country! We are so honored to be a part of the WAM Theatre community," said Aimee R. Thorne-Thomsen, former Sister Song Co-Chair, and member of their Board of Directors.

ROE was available for streaming online from October 17-20, 2020, and was sponsored in part by Maggie and Don Buchwald, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Brabson & Library Educational Foundation and Mass Humanities. More than 22 creative artists worked on this production, from the actors, designers and stage managers to OUTPOST productions, who edited the digital production, and T Square Design Studio, who designed the ROE Experience website.

The 2020 beneficiaries were chosen after a thoughtful and rigorous selection process, including a request for proposals and site visits, overseen by a committee at WAM consisting of van Ginhoven, Margaret Fluhr (WAM Board of Directors), Wendy Healey (WAM Board of Directors), Dori Parkman [WAM General Manager], and Lia Russell-Self (WAM Associate Artist).

ARFWM is a community-based, all-volunteer organization dedicated to overcoming barriers to abortion health care. They promote access by providing financial and logistical support to pregnant people through compassionate caller-centered care that respects their dignity and human rights. WAM's donation will help provide much needed assistance facilitating access to time-sensitive, essential care during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Railroad Street Youth Project empowers young people by supporting youth-inspired projects that promote responsibility, self-worth, and intergenerational communication.

The staff then expertly pairs these youth-generated ideas with community resources. WAM's donation will help train new educators in the only evidence-based sexual health education program in the area, serving 250 students in south County schools.

Launched in 1997 by 16 women-of-color-led organizations, SisterSong is the oldest and largest multi-ethnic Reproductive Justice organization, and the only one headquartered in the South. Their mission is to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of Indigenous women and women of color to ensure Reproductive Justice through securing human rights.

WAM's donation will support their Birth Justice program in Georgia, a state with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. Through this program, SisterSong organizes Advanced Doula Trainings, advocates for Community Midwives and Birth Workers, and creates community and learning space with their Mama Talks.

For more information on the ROE beneficiaries visit:

https://www.wamtheatre.com/engage/2020-roe-beneficiaries/

WAM's next digital production, available online only November 19-22, 2020, will be THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. In this fast-paced satire by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Larissa Fasthorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation), good intentions collide with absurd assumptions, as a troupe of white, Liberal teaching artists scramble to devise a grade school theatre performance that somehow manages to celebrate Turkey Day, while also honoring Native American Heritage Month.

Rehearsals, under the direction of WAM's Associate Artistic Director, Talya Kingston, have started and tickets are already selling briskly. As part of WAM's ongoing anti-racism and reparations work and the company's commitment to using art as activism, a donation to the Mohican tribe, on whose ancestral lands the company has their office, will be made.

Tickets for THE THANKSGIVING PLAY are on sale at:

https://www.wamtheatre.com/buy-tickets-to-ttp/

For more information on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY visit:

https://www.wamtheatre.com/showsandevents/the-thanksgiving-play/

For more information on all of WAM Theatre's 2020 programs, events, and artists, please visit www.WAMTheatre.com.

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