Priscilla Kane Hellweg
Executive/Artistic Director
Priscilla Kane Hellweg is the Executive/Artistic Director of Enchanted Circle Theater, a non-profit educational theater based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Ms. Hellweg, named 2004 Artist-in-Resident of the Year, by the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts in Education, has directed, performed and taught educational theater extensively throughout New York and New England. She’s received numerous grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, including the first ever Artist-Teacher Partnership Grant.
Ms. Hellweg has taught Professional Development workshops at the Wang Center for the Performing Arts in Boston, for the History Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Forty Carrots Preschool and Parenting Center in Sarasota FL, as well as for many city-wide school systems in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Ms. Hellweg has been guest artist at Mount Holyoke College, and has taught workshops at Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, Elms College, Westfield State College, the Institute for Teaching and Learning in New Haven, and the Professional Development Institute in Boston. She is a member of the Holyoke Rotary Club and Passport Holyoke, on the steering committee of One Book Holyoke, the Advisory Board of the Fund for Women Artists, and on the Board of Trustees of the Tashi Nyima Foundation.
Under Ms. Hellweg’s guidance, Enchanted Circle Theater has taken a leadership position in the community, developing theater work with young people that addresses issues of social justice. ECT regularly provides enrichment services with The Boys and Girls Club of Holyoke, The Care Center for Pregnant and Parenting Teens, The Western Mass Training Consortium, WMCA, and Valley Opportunity Council.
Ms. Hellweg has been a grant reviewer for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts and Tourism, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the New Hampshire State Arts Council. Priscilla’s conference presentations include: “Sharing the Vision: Developing Effective Community Arts Partnerships”, New England Consortium of Artist-Educator Professionals; “The Creative Classroom- Artists and Teachers in Partnership”, Convergence- Best Practices in Public School Education; “Playmaking in the Elementary School Classroom”, Perspectives in Children’s Literature Conference: "Theater for Community Development", New England Theater Conference (NETC), Hartford, CT; "Performing Arts Curriculum Enhancement: Enhancing Creative and Critical Thinking Through the Arts”. Alliance for Education-Professional Development Institution, Sturbridge, MA; "Why Can't Cinderella Be Korean- East meets West in Theater for Youth", American Theater Association and the American Association of Theater and Higher Education, NYC.
Ms. Hellweg directs all ECT productions and is co-author of BETWEEN THE CANALS: The Evolution of a Mill Town, LEAH ENTERS LATE, and THE SKINNER SERVANTS’ TOUR: A Living History of Wistariahurst, all site-based historical dramas. Ms. Hellweg received her B.A. in Performing Arts and Education at Hampshire College, and did professional theater training at the Provincetown Playhouse and SUNY at Purchase. She is currently working on a book entitled: Actively Engaged- Theater as a Dynamic Teaching Tool and a new play on Sojourner Truth.
Enchanted Circle Theater Staff
Priscilla Kane Hellweg
Executive/Artistic Director
« Priscilla's bio
Rachel Kuhn
Director of Development and Communications
» read Rachel's bio
Celine Hamilton Quill
Director of Operations
» read Celine's bio
Greg Alexander
Artist/Educator
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Aaron (Brando) Brandes
Artist/Educator
» read Aaron (Brando)'s bio
Barbara Cortez-Greig
Artist/Educator
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Kate Dean
Artist/Educator
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James Emery
Artist/Educator
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Jeannine Haas
Artist/Educator
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Melissa Penley
Artist/Educator
» read Melissa's bio
Tracy Vernon
Artist/Educator
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