New series featuring Holyoke native to premiere in April

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- A Holyoke native is set to return to the small screen this spring for the new Hulu series “The Testaments.” It serves as a spin-off to the hit series “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Actress Ann Dowd will reprise her role as “Aunt Lydia”, running a preparatory school for future wives in “Gilead.”

Dowd grew up in Holyoke and began her acting career here in western Mass.

She was a member of Williston Northampton School’s class of 1974 and participated in their summer theater program.

In the decades that followed, Dowd’s earned several Emmy nominations and even won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2017 for her role as Aunt Lydia.

Be sure to catch her when the first three episodes of “The Testaments” premiere on April 8th.