WAM Theatre announces its 2026 summer programming, featuring the return of the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series at Ventfort Hall and the launch of the Fertile Ground New Works Residency Program at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College.
Building on the momentum of WAM’s spring mainstage production Rooted, this summer season reflects the company’s year-round commitment presenting ground-breaking stories that are imaginative and thoughtful explorations of complex issues affecting women and girls.
WAM’s 2026 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series opens with Amani by a.k. payne, directed by Vernice Miller (Mr. Joy at Chester Theatre; Where We Stand at WAM Theatre), on Sunday, June 14, 2026 (2PM & 7PM) at Ventfort Hall. The reading runs approximately 105 minutes with no intermission.
Amani follows a young girl coming of age in a world shaped by both love and injustice. Raised by her father, who builds a symbolic rocket ship in hopes of reaching a place beyond gangs and incarceration, Amani grows up between imagination and survival. As she moves into adulthood, she must define her own voice, desires, and future while questioning whether freedom is found in escape or radical presence. The play, a 2023 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist, moves fluidly between past and present, traversing domestic spaces, the carceral system, prom night, and imagined outer space.
WAM Theatre Equity and Belonging Facilitator Sabine Denise Jacques, who plays the title role, reflects, “For me, this season at WAM is a reminder of the practice of returning home to oneself—an invitation to reflect on our values and what it means to be fully present in loving community.”
The reading features Diaka Kaba Hill (Capital Repertory Theatre; Associate Artistic Director, Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York) as Dasia, Sabine Denise Jacques (WAM Theatre; Silverthorne Theatre Company) as Amani, Iniabasi Nelson (Capital Repertory Theatre) as Asom, Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. (HartBeat Ensemble; Primary Stages; Ensemble Studio Theatre) as Smith, and Mirirai (Black Mirror, Broad City, Atlantic Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons) as Kofa, with stage management by Sarah Keyes.
Playwright a.k. payne shares, “I wrote Amani with the intention of imagining abundant space for Black girls and Black children impacted by the carceral system. I am thrilled to bring a reading of this play to WAM in its mission-aligned commitment to nourishing stories that center women and girls. I believe that the methods and intentions with which we make theatre are integral to any production, and I am grateful for the opportunity to create in spaces that aim to holistically support the themes of the work within and beyond the walls of the theatre.”
The reading series continues on Sunday, August 16, 2026 (2PM & 7PM) with Gorgeous by Keiko Green, directed by Cat Ramirez. The reading runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
A young Asian-American woman named Jenny (Zoë Laiz: WAM Theatre; Shakespeare & Company) goes head-to-head with Bernie (Brenny Campbell: The Kitchen Theatre Company; Capital Repertory Theatre; Portland Stage), who seems more like a tornado than a woman, in an all-out brawl after the death of Bill, a deeply flawed man-turned-saint. The item in question? Bill’s English bulldog, Gorgeous. Set in a sharply observed, unromanticized South, this dramedy asks: who gets to define beauty, who is allowed to rewrite their own story, and who is left carrying what remains?
Playwright Keiko Green reflects, “As an Asian American in the South, my identity is full of opposing complexities. It was important to me to write a play that reflects this experience I rarely see onstage or onscreen, while moving past snap judgments and lifting up female friendship. As both women are reeling from the consequences of someone else’s actions, Gorgeous asks, ‘who takes responsibility for the past?’”
Director Cat Ramirez shares, “WAM is a company I’ve admired for years, and getting to collaborate with them on this work feels like a dream. I believe you cannot make impactful theater without integrity — and that’s exactly what WAM brings.”
In addition to Fresh Takes, WAM Theatre officially launches its Fertile Ground New Works Residency at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College. Fertile Ground is WAM Theatre’s art incubation program dedicated to nurturing the voices and visions of women artists. Rooted in WAM’s commitment to intersectional gender equity and storytelling, the program offers artists time, space, resources, and collaborative support to develop bold new work.
This year, WAM Theatre will support Artistic Director Genée Coreno as she researches and develops The World of Louisa May, a soon-to-be devised theatre piece created in collaboration with students at Berkshire Community College this fall. As part of her residency week (June 1-5), Coreno will host a Louisa May Alcott Fan Club gathering on Thursday, June 4, 2026, 5-7pm, inviting the community to gather and share what stays with them from the enduring legacy of Louisa May Alcott, Abigail May Alcott, and Little Women.
WAM Theatre then welcomes Faye Chiao (music) and Tasha Gordon-Solomon (book and lyrics) to continue development of their new musical, Fountain of You (O’Neill National Music Theater Conference; Edinburgh Fringe Festival), culminating in a special preview performance at WAM’s Summer Soirée. Already generating national buzz, Fountain of You is a hilarious, heartfelt, and delightfully irreverent musical exploring beauty, aging, and reinvention.
Fertile Ground concludes August 3-8 with a residency for Anyone There?, an immersive theatre work blending verbatim theatre, movement, neuroscience, and audience participation by director Jessica Bauman, whose work has been seen at Shakespeare’s Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, and Juilliard School; and performer/deviser Rebekah Morin of Third Rail Projects and the Bessie Award-winning Then She Fell. The piece investigates the growing crisis of isolation while inviting audiences into moments of shared humanity and play. As Bauman reflects, “Our week with WAM this summer will provide exactly the kind of protected time we need to take the project to the next level of creativity and insight.”
Fertile Ground cultivates process over product, championing the messy, transformative early stages of making. By investing in the developmental phase of work by women artists, WAM continues to expand the ecosystem of theatre that centers equity, imagination, and joy. Public showings / open rehearsals for residencies are by invitation – if interested in attending email info@wamtheatre.com for more details.
Public Events At A Glance
Fresh Takes Readings
Amani by a.k. payne
Sunday June 14 (2pm and 7pm)
Ventfort Hall
104 Walker St, Lenox, MA 01240
Tickets: wamtheatre.com/amani/
Gorgeous by Keiko Green
Sunday August 16 (2pm and 7pm)
Ventfort Hall
104 Walker St, Lenox, MA 01240
Tickets: wamtheatre.com/gorgeous/
Fertile Ground Showings / Open Rehearsals
The World of Louisa May – Fan Club Gathering
Thursday June 4, 2026 (5-7pm)
‘62 Center for the Arts – Shared Studio
1000 Main St, Williamstown, MA 01267
Email info@wamtheatre.com for Details
Faye Chiao and Tasha Gordon-Solomon’s Fountain of You at WAM Summer Soiree
Sunday July 26, 2026 (12:30-3pm)
35 Walker Street, Lenox, MA 01240
Tickets: wamtheatre.com/summer-soiree-2026/
Anyone There? with Jess Bauman
Week of August 3
‘62 Center for the Arts – Shared Studio
1000 Main St, Williamstown, MA 01267
By Invitation – Email info@wamtheatre.com for Details