Ten Theater Ensembles Receive National Theater Project Awards

(Boston, MA) The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) announces the 10 recipients of the National Theater Project Creation and Touring awards as well as the 15 recipients of Artist Development awards, totaling nearly $1.3 million in support to the field.

The National Theater Project (NTP) promotes the development and touring of artist-led, ensemble, and devised theater works. NTP’s 12 Advisors selected these projects from an initial 98 competitive preliminary applications narrowed to 25 final applications. Each of the finalists was paired with an Advisor to support the final application process. 

Modeled after NEFA’s National Dance Project, NTP functions as a full system of support for devised theater, which in addition to funding, animates an informed, interactive network of producing theaters, presenters, and ensembles.  Since the first round of NTP grants in 2010, NEFA has infused nearly $11 million into the field through the program. To date, 96 new theater works have been supported through Creation and Touring grants; touring of those works has reached 43 different states across the U.S. NTP projects have toured in-person and virtually to large and small arts presenters, military bases, universities, regional theaters, and festivals. 

“Every year, the NTP Advisors engage in thoughtful conversation on each project, and discuss the ever-changing needs of the field, including how NTP can best respond to those needs. It is this deep commitment, the support from our funding partners, and the depth and richness of work being created, that has enabled NTP, and the NTP team, to impact the field significantly over the past 12 years,” said Quita Sullivan, senior program director for theater at NEFA.

“We are grateful to the National Theater Project advisors, NEFA staff, and our colleagues at DDCF, who have helped to put forward a vibrant cohort of artist-led ensembles who exemplify the expansive nature of contemporary theater work,” said Emil Kang, program director for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation.  “We are pleased to help support NTP’s work in upholding a thriving theater ecology.”  

“The new round of National Theater Project grantees comes at an auspicious moment when the sector is asking important questions about how theater can make a positive impact,” said Maurine Knighton, program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “This cohort offers a window into the tremendous creativity that is present in communities across the country, as well as artists’ deep commitment to engaging those communities. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation applauds NTP’s important work and is pleased to collaborate with them, as well as with our partners at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.”

NEFA’s National Theater Project is made possible with lead funding from the Mellon Foundation and with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Grants for this round ranged from $80,000-$130,000; a portion of this award supports the creation and development of the new work, with the remainder for artist-directed allocations to presenters to support artist fees via the NTP Presentation Grant. In addition to the Creation and Touring grant, each recipient will also receive an additional $10,00 towards administration for creating and touring the project. The ten grant recipients and projects are:

• FORCE! an opera in three acts, Anna Martine Whitehead, Chicago, IL
• Llontop, Anonymous Ensemble, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
• La Carpa De La Frontera, Theater promoting social justice and healing, CARPA San Diego, San Diego, CA
• Arms Around America, Dan Froot & Company, Los Angeles, CA
• UNBOUND, Dancing Earth Creations, Santa Fe, NM
• In The Name Of The Mother Tree, Ebony Noelle Golden, New York, NY
• Yankee Bajan, Parris-Bailey Arts Inc., Knoxville TN
• ​​​​Canciones (working title), Radical Evolution Performance Collective, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
• There is Nothing Micro about Micronesia, Teada Productions, Los Angeles, CA
• THE GREAT AMERICAN GUNSHOW, Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, Philadelphia, PA

Project descriptions, images, and more are included in each grantee’s listing in the NEFA grantee directory; organizations interested in presenting any of these works – or works from previous grant rounds – may apply for an NTP Presentation Grant after contacting a project’s tour coordinator, which may be found in the directory. NTP also provides travel support for arts presenters interested in seeing projects.

NTP finalists who are not awarded the Creation and Touring grant receive $10,000 each as Artist Development Grants. Those recipients are:

• The TransDiaries, B. Lindsey Deaton, San Diego, CA
• Project Aid Access, coLAB Arts, Inc, New Brunswick, NJ
• The Joint, Denise Sharon Gray, New York, NY
• Carlota, Goat in the Road Productions, New Orleans, LA
• Philly Asian Futures, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, Philadelphia, PA
• Compass, Ripe Time, Inc., Brooklyn, NY
• Keysmash: A Conversation about Mental Health, Rising Youth Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
• Carr Creek Community Play, Roadside Theater, Whitesburg, KY
• New Work by Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, Sweat Variant, Brooklyn, NY
• Those with 2 Clocks, Tall Order (Jess Conda, Jenn Kidwell, Mel Krodman), Philadelphia, PA
• Will You Miss Me?, The Hinterlands, Detroit, MI
• In a Memory Palace, Theatre Nohgaku, Inc., Belmont, MI
• The Death of Medea, Theatre Roscius, Los Angeles, CA
• Requiem for a Stranger, Vagabond Inventions and Renee Benson, New Orleans, LA
• Sensorium Ex, VisionIntoArt Presents, Inc., Brooklyn, NY

About NEFA

The New England Foundation for the Arts invests in artists and communities and fosters equitable access to the arts, enriching the cultural landscape in New England and the nation.  NEFA accomplishes this by granting funds to artists and cultural organizations; connecting them to each other and their audiences; and analyzing their economic contributions. NEFA serves as a regional partner for the National Endowment for the Arts, New England’s state arts agencies, and private foundations. Learn more at www.nefa.org.

Contact: Ann Wicks | 617-423-1390