New Timeline for the National Theater Project’s Creation and Touring Grant

Since its two-year pilot in 2010, the National Theater Project (NTP) has supported artist-led, ensemble, devised theater tours throughout the United States; 2022 marked 10 years in the field, and a year of reflection, assessment, and evaluation. This leads us to today’s announcement of a new timeline for our flagship Creation and Touring Grant beginning in 2023.

• Monday, July 10, 2023: NTP preliminary application opens
• Wednesday, September 27, 2023: deadline to submit preliminary applications
• Wednesday, February 14, 2024: final applications due

The NTP team has decided to shift our Creation and Touring Grant timeline by six months based upon both internal and external evaluations and conversations with:

• Our funders the Mellon Foundation (lead funder) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• A 10-year evaluation and report conducted by McNeil Creative Enterprises; more information on the results of this process in coming months!
• Our colleagues at NEFA, foremost among them the National Dance Project (NDP)
• Previous applicants and grantees

We believe this shift will serve applicants by:

• Staggering the application deadlines for NTP and NDP, alleviating the pressure of two intensive applications overlapping and allowing ensembles to have a better sense of where their best funding opportunities for a given project are
• Allowing NTP staff the opportunity to make adjustments to the application process in light of the aforementioned evaluations
• Shifting the funding cycle to align with the standard fiscal year

As the newest member of the NTP team, I am excited to be launching my tenure here at NEFA alongside this new funding calendar, and I look forward to connecting with our 2023 Creation and Touring applicants this summer. Please stay tuned for further information, including NTP staff office hours and application details as the year progresses!

I would like to close with thanks to our funders the Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; NEFA staff, who have welcomed me with such warmth and enthusiasm; our Communications team who are gracefully spreading the word about our updated timeline and evaluation results; our Technology and Data team, whose support is instrumental to working applications; and of course the NTP team – Quita, Derek, and my predecessor Meena, who have granted me both support and trust as I step into my new role.