Since it started in 2024, the all-volunteer nonprofit group Valley Players has been on a mission to help build community in the Valley through community theater. A key part of achieving that has been donating half of net ticket revenue from each of its shows to another Valley nonprofit that has a mission that aligns with the story or themes of the play.
Over its first two and a half years, Valley Players raised more than $7,000 for organizations including Cancer Connection, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, River Valley Counseling Center, Community Action Pioneer Valley, the Peace Development Fund, the Literacy Project, and Way Finders.
With its tenth program, this June’s sold-out run of Shakespeare’s play of music and magic, The Tempest, Valley Players has now made its single largest donation yet. Through this show, the group was able to contribute over $3,700 to Center for New Americans to support immigrant and refugee families in the Valley community.
“The Tempest shows that the power of compassion and being welcoming is greater even than any magical power,” Valley Players president Matteo Pangallo explains, “and that what makes us human is our capacity for empathy—to recognize others as fully human as well.” Because of this, and because The Tempest centers on cultural contact, the plight of the stranger, and the power of language, Valley Players decided to use this production to support Center for New Americans. “It was a natural fit,” Pangallo says, “and given the context of our historical moment, we felt it important to support the crucial work being done by CNA.”
Center for New Americans has been serving immigrants in western Massachusetts for nearly thirty-five years by providing free classes in English, instruction in digital literacy, civics, and employment searching, childcare, tutoring, and low-cost immigration legal services. Its programs are designed to foster access for immigrants to community resources and opportunities. CNA’s annual naturalization ceremony on July 4th in Northampton represents a vivid demonstration of the culmination of the citizenship journey and is attended by hundreds of community members.
Valley Players’ third season continues to support important causes. Its production of Bryna Turner’s At the Wedding (Oct. 1–4 at the Amherst Woman’s Club) supports the LGBTQ+ youth support group Out Now, its next “Bard in the Bar” reading of King Lear (Nov. 21 at the Brewery at Four Star Farms) will gather donations for a local elder services organization, and the holiday revival of its hit from last year, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Dec. 18 at the Academy of Music) will benefit the affordable housing programs of Valley Community Development.
More information about Valley Players, including how to donate, become a business sponsor, sign up for auditions, get tickets, or join the email list, is at valleyplayers.org.