communityworks.wtfestival.orgCommunity Works - Williamstown Theatre

FestivalFacebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Shows & Events Programs & Initiatives Visit Support About Work & Learn Donate Buy Williamstown Theatre Festival is an IRS Section 501(c)(3) company. Our tax identification number is 04-2237311 " Call 413.458.3253 Williamstown Theatre Festival is an IRS Section 501(c)(3) company. Our tax identification number is 04-2237311 1000 Main Street Williamstown, MA Archive Home Search Poster Archive 2017 Community Works production of Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires, photo by Daniel Rader Community Works Community-engaged theatre that WORKS! COMMUNITY WORKS is Williamstown Theatre Festival’s year-round community-engaged theatre program that brings together hundreds of Berkshire area residents from all walks of life. COMMUNITY WORKS is committed to providing free and regular arts programming throughout Berkshire County. Events will take place on a monthly basis and will consist of workshops, open mics, readings, and much more! As COMMUNITY WORKS enters into this new and exciting chapter, we have committed to putting community partnerships and accessibility at the center of our work. We hope to collaborate with any and all community-serving institutions to provide community-building experiences for individuals of all races, religions, ethnicities, ages, genders, and abilities. If you would like to partner with us or get involved in any way, please contact Kori Alston at community@wtfestival.org. UPCOMING EVENTS Workshops that are open to the public will be clearly marked below as OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Participants under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult. HOW TO START A PLAY : FREE PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP – OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 4:00-5:30 PM ET Are you a seasoned playwright looking for that spark to start a new play? Are you someone who has never tried playwriting but wants to explore? Are you a writer of another discipline looking to stretch your literary skills? Join local artist and educator Kori Alston on June 22 at 4:00 PM ET at the Berkshire Athenaeum for this free 90-minute COMMUNITY WORKS workshop. We will provide notebooks and pens; feel free to bring the medium on which you would prefer to write. Kori will guide participants through a variety of exciting ways to start a new play and help you begin writing it! All ages are welcome and no prior experience is necessary for this fun, free, intergenerational workshop! To register and learn more, click the links below or email community@wtfestival.org. Registration and masks are required. Kori Alston is Williamstown Theatre Festival’s COMMUNITY WORKS Associate. He is a Berkshire County native from Great Barrington and an accomplished playwright who was named The Future of Playwriting in 2021 by The Blank Theatre and UCross Foundation. His play, A Case for Black Girls Setting Central Park on Fire recently received a workshop in NYC with Clubbed Thumb. OUR ORIGIN STORY In July of 2015, Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield charged Associate Director Laura Savia and Obie Award-winning playwright Lucy Thurber with creating a multi-year initiative that would build meaningful relationships with our neighbors in the Berkshires, bring together participants from diverse economic and social backgrounds, and make the Festival more accessible than ever. The resulting year-round community immersive theatre project, COMMUNITY WORKS , invites the people of Western Massachusetts to be a part of the Festival’s creative process – not just as audience members, but on stage as well! HOW WE DO IT Throughout the fall, winter, and spring, WTF personnel and key Festival artists – like Broadway actors Thomas Sadoski and Saidah Arrika Ekulona – conduct acting, playwriting, and story-circle workshops with our community partner organizations. These workshops are where we build trust, teach theatre skills, and hear the local stories that inspire our summer production. In the summer, WTF brings its world-class design and creative talent to the project, mounting a full production of a new, free, family-friendly play. Community cast members, many of whom are first-time actors, have costume fittings and rehearse in the same spaces as our veteran actors. Finally, the show is performed – music, choreography, and, of course, the people and stories of the Berkshires flood the stage. IT’S WORKING! COMMUNITY WORKS is an antidote to Facebook filter bubbles and echo chambers. Participants must interact and engage with people unlike themselves in an environment that embraces diversity and encourages risk-taking . The results are clear and remarkable: by coming together in one equalizing rehearsal room, putting on costumes, and telling a story for free to everyone else in their community, participants go from a nervous group of 100+ strangers at first rehearsal to a tight-knit family by closing night, with bonds that defy socio-economic class, race, gender, and age. Attendance at our 2017 COMMUNITY WORKS production, Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires , was at capacity (more than 2,000 over four packed performances), and the response of participants and audiences alike was extraordinary. One cast member, who came to the project through workshops with our partner Soldier On, told the Berkshire Eagle : Last year, at this time I was homeless. This year, professional pictures were taken of me in costume… I came from over 30 years of abuse. I’ve found my voice and my courage. For me, it’s been miraculous .” Here is what other COMMUNITY WORKS participants had to say: The experience confirmed my perception that theatre can be a unifying force .” Personally, I have gained back a little of my faith in humanity because of my experience working on this project … I have also gained more confidence in myself.” In a time where the world is so crazy, it was such a nice relief to be involved with a group where age, race, orientation, etc. didn’t matter in the least and we all came together to create something beautiful .” I’m proud of the people who had the guts to get out there and do stuff they’d never done before. I’m proud of WTF for taking this step.”Different people, coming from different walks of life, all collaborating on a single creation, is truly something that I am proud to be a part of. To me, this is what being human is about. I wish there was more of this powerful, breathtaking, positive energy in our world today.” Berkshire On Stage called the productionpoignant and relevant” andsomething approaching miraculous.” They went on to say: But the most moving element of this production is the diversity of the cast —senior actors paired with children, performers of every race and type, including Banshees in wheelchairs escorted onstage by assistants, and a message of inclusion that teaches us what can be possible in our fractured world.” YOU CAN HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT COMMUNITY WORKS is only possible through the generous support of donors, whose contributions enable the program to have the broadest and deepest impact on our community. Your contribution in support of COMMUNITY WORKS will help: Bring theatre to people who wouldn’t otherwise experience it Provide educational and cultural opportunities for youth and senior citizens Promote discourse and relationship-building across communities Teach community engagement best practices to a new generation of artists Create a world premiere production, based on the lives and stories that impact our community Grow our program, raise the standard of excellence for our productions, and forge new partnerships with increasingly diverse populations Please consider making a tax-deductible donation in support of COMMUNITY WORKS today. Click here to send an email asking for more information on how to get involved PAST EVENTS IN-PERSON PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP – OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Friday, December 10, 2021, 1:00-2:15 PM Williamstown Theatre Festival’s COMMUNITY WORKS co-founders Laura Savia and Lucy Thurber led an...