HONOR KILLING Up Next In WAM Theatre's 2018 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series

The WAM Theatre 2018 Fresh Takes Play Reading Series continues with Honor Killing by Sarah Bierstock at 3:30pm on Sunday, June 10, at No. Six Depot Roastery and Café in West Stockbridge. Former Fresh Takes curator Molly Merrihew will direct this hard-hitting political play that recently completed its premiere production at Florida Studio Theatre.

In Honor Killing, Allisyn Davis, an American reporter for The New York Times, heads to Pakistan to cover the honor killing of a young woman. Denied entrance, she conducts her investigation remotely from Dubai. Through a series of cultural collisions, candid interviews, and dangerous encounters, she learns the horrifying details of this murder. These circumstances cause Allisyn to re-examine troubling details of her own past. One culture mirrors the other, asking questions about forgiveness, self-worth, and justice.

"When I first read Honor Killing, I was drawn to the play's inventive storytelling and cross-cultural exploration of violence against women in the United States and Pakistan," Merrihew explained. "I was also inspired by Sarah Bierstock's integration of technology. Revisiting the play this spring has been illuminating. I find the writing timely, relevant, and in line with WAM Theatre's inspiration, Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide."

Honor Killing is a play about the media coverage of an atrocity that happened in another country, as playwright Sarah Bierstock explains: "What I am exploring is the idea that we Americans often judge our culture as superior because we don't openly participate in some of those activities we deem horrific. But in reality, egregious, violent, and misogynistic activities occur right here in the United States every day."

Honor Killing brings together a stellar company of regional and New York-based actors, including Berkshire native, Caitlin Davies (Hudson Warehouse's Pericles), who assays the lead role of Allisyn; local favorites Ron Komora (Lloyd/Victor in WAM's Holy Laughter) and Amber Chand (WAM's Motherhood Out Loud); and Abuzar Farrukh (appearing as Abe in Chester Theatre's upcoming production of Disgraced, directed by Kristen Van Ginhoven), Shawn Jain (American Repertory Theater's Charlotte's Web), Jay Sefton (Majestic Theater's Outside Mullingar), and Katie Zaffrann (Shakespeare & Company's The Merry Wives of Windsor) making their WAM Theatre debuts.

Seating is very limited and Fresh Takes readings often sell out. In that case, we encourage patrons to add their names to the waiting list. Tickets are $25 (general admission), which includes a post-show conversation and the opportunity to meet the cast and director. Refreshments will be available for purchase at the Café. The 2018 Fresh Takes Series is sponsored in part by No. Six Depot.

The 2018 Fresh Takes Series continues on Sunday, August 12, at 2pm for a reading of Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, presented in the auditorium at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. Inspired by Michelle Alexander's best-seller, The New Jim Crow, Pipeline is the beautiful and deeply moving story of a mother's fight to give her son a future without turning her back on the community that made him who he is.