CLARK ART INSTITUTE, WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL HOST WAM THEATRE PLAY READING
For Immediate Release
July 18, 2017
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute, in collaboration with Williamstown Theatre Festival, presents a reading of the new play Smart People in a segment of WAM Theatre’s 2017 Fresh Takes Reading Series on Tuesday, August 1 at 5 pm. A post-reading discussion follows the reading. The event will be held in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center. The play reading is free, but reservations are strongly encouraged. To reserve, visit wamtheatre.com or call WAM at 413 274 8122.
Fresh Takes gives a stage to groundbreaking works—which have been successfully presented elsewhere but are new to Berkshire audiences—that tell women’s stories. Featuring local professional actors and directors, the series explores the work of provocative contemporary voices.
Smart People, written by Lydia R. Diamond, sets the stage on the eve of Obama’s first election in 2008. Four of Harvard University’s brightest—a surgeon, an actress, a psychologist, and a neuro-psychiatrist—are all interested in different aspects of the brain, particularly how it responds to race. But like all smart people, they are also searching for love, success, and identity in their own lives. Diamond brings these characters together in this sharp, witty play about social and sexual politics.
The 2017 Fresh Takes Reading Series is generously supported by No. Six Depot Roastery and Café and the Dramatists Guild Fund.
ABOUT WAM THEATRE
Based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, WAM Theatre was co-founded in 2010 by Canadian director, actor, educator, and producer Kristen van Ginhoven to create professional theatrical events for everyone, with a focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls.
WAM Theatre also has a philanthropic mission, inspired by the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and donates a portion of the proceeds from its theatrical events to organizations that benefit women and girls. Over the past seven years, WAM Theatre has donated more than $30,000 to eleven nonprofit organizations and has 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.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open daily, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
Press contact:
Clark Art Institute
413 458 0471
[email protected]