The Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton will present a staged reading of Mixed Relief, a new one-act play written by New Shoe Theater of New York to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Federal Theater Project, on Thursday, October 21st at 7pm. Mixed Relief presents historical fiction based on extensive research about the lives of three women artists who were employed by the Federal Writers Project of the WPA - Anzia Yezierska, Eudora Welty, and Dorothy West and includes verbatim material from interviews with three contemporary theatre artists –Kara Lee Corthron, Ruth Maleczech and Cassandra Medley. The evening will begin with three notable advocates for women artists who will address parity for women’s work on stage - Martha Richards, Executive Director of WomenArts and one of the three “founding mothers” of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts; Magdalena Gomez, international award-winning Latina playwright; and Dr. Terry Jenoure, world performer, educator and writer.

Linda McInerney will direct the production with a cast that includes Representative Ellen Story (Hillary Clinton), Bill Dwight (Congressman Dies), Jenny Ladd (Eleanor Roosevelt), Lisa Baskin (Anzia Yezierska), Terry Jenoure (Dorothy West), Sarah Buttenwieser (Ruth Maleczech), Priscilla Kane Hellweg (Eudora Welty), Andrea Hairston (Cassandra Medley) Carol Johnson (Hallie Flanagan) and Itoro Udofia (Kara Lee Corthron).