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American Theatre Wing Announces Recipients of 2014 National Theatre Company Grants

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

 

AMERICAN THEATRE WING

ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF

2014 NATIONAL THEATRE COMPANY GRANTS

 

NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS HAS BEEN INCREASED TO

TWELVE THEATRE COMPANIES FROM COAST TO COAST

 

AMOUNT OF EACH GRANT HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 20%

 

New York, NY (September 18, 2014) – The American Theatre Wing (William Ivey Long, Chairman, Board of Trustees; Heather Hitchens, President) has announced the recipients of its 2014 National Theatre Company Grants.  This year’s recipients are: Amphibian Stage Productions (Fort Worth, Texas), Ars Nova (New York, New York), Forum Theatre (Silver Spring, Maryland), Keen Company (New York, New York), PlayGround (San Francisco, California) , Red Bull Theater (New York, NY), Rogue Machine Theatre (Los Angeles, California), The House Theatre of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois), the TEAM (Brooklyn, New York), Theater Wit (Chicago, Illinois), Theatre B (Fargo, North Dakota), and Williamston Theatre (Williamston, Michigan).

 

Grants for the 2014 cycle in the amount of $12,000 each will be distributed for general operating support to these companies which, according to grant guidelines, have been in operation at least five, but not more than fifteen years, have articulated a distinctive mission, cultivated an audience, and nurtured a community of artists in ways that strengthen and demonstrate the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theatre. 

 

As was previously announced, the funding for these grants has been increased due to the success of this year’s American Theatre Wing Gala, which took in more than $750,000 on Monday, September 15, besting all previous records.  

 

“We are particularly proud to be able to benefit twelve theater companies this year, and with larger grants,” Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing, commented.  “These companies have proven themselves vital to their respective communities, and we know they will put this funding to good use and continue to do great work.”

 

The American Theatre Wing has long shown its dedication to not-for-profit theatres through its Theatre Company Grants Program. After many years during which eligibility was restricted to New York City companies, 2010 marked a significant change in the granting of The Wing, resulting from extensive review by the organization’s Board of Trustees.  The ATW Grants have distributed some $3 million dollars over the past 55 years.  For more information on the ATW’s National Theatre Company Grants, visit: americantheatrewing.org/grants/. The application period for 2015 grants will open in the spring of next year.

 

The American Theatre Wing (William Ivey Long, Chairman, Board of Trustees; Heather Hitchens, President) is dedicated to advancing artistic excellence and nurturing theatre’s next generation: on stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience.

 

For nearly a century, the Wing has pursued this mission with programs that span the nation to invest in the growth and evolution of American Theatre. Traditionally, the Wing has encouraged members of the theatre community to share their off-stage time and talent directly with the theatre audience at large–whether it was singing for the troops in the Stage Door Canteen of the 1940's, or sharing their stories on a podcast today.

 

As the founders of The Tony Awards®, the American Theatre Wing has developed the foremost national platform for the recognition of theatrical achievement on Broadway. The Wing recently became the new home of the OBIES®, Off and Off-Off Broadway’s highest honor, in a partnership with the Village Voice. Yet the Wing's reach extends beyond New York. The Wing develops the next generation of theatre professionals through the SpringboardNYC and Theatre Intern Network programs, incubates innovative theatre across the country through the National Theatre Company Grants, fosters the song of American theatre through the Jonathan Larson Grants, and illuminates the creative process through the “Working in the Theatre” program and media archive.

 

Visitors to americantheatrewing.org can get inspired and gain insight into the artistic process through the Wing’s extensive media collection, and learn more about its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences.

 

Follow the Wing on Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing and Twitter.com/TheWing.

Mission Statements

Amphibian Stage Productions Located in Fort Worth, Texas, Amphibian Stage Productions seeks to produce innovative and engaging works of theatre that challenge the way we see the world around us. The company believes that theatre has the ability to forge a unique dialogue between performers and audience members enabling their desire to infuse new energy into this important art form. The company is widely recognized for its stylistically and thematically varied scripts that foster a deeper understanding of ourselves as members of the global community.

Ars Nova is committed to developing and producing theater, comedy and music artists in the early stages of their professional careers. Located in New York, NY the company’s unique development programs are designed to support outside-the-box thinking and encourage innovative, genre-bending work. By providing a safe environment where risk-taking and collaboration are paramount, Ars Nova gives voice to a new generation of artists and audiences, pushing the boundaries of live entertainment by nurturing creative ideas into smart, surprising new work. 

 

Forum Theatre Located in Silver Spring, Maryland, Forum Theatre produces adventurous, relevant, and challenging plays from a diversity of voices that inspire discussion and build community — and that are accessible, affordable, and entertaining. The company has aimed to be both the home for stories that provoke discussion and the place to host that discussion and want their plays to be a conversation with the audience. Known for strong ensemble casts, ambitious design concepts, and community focus – the company is committed to diverse programming reflecting the experiences and identities of their audience and neighbors.

 

Keen Company Located in New York, NY, Keen Company creates theater that provokes identification, reflection and emotional connection. In intimate productions of plays and musicals, the company tells stories in which people strive to live with integrity. Through its educational arm, Keen develops and produces new plays for high school audiences, expanding the repertoire of plays available for young people and creating new generations that embrace theatre. Keen seeks to build a lasting community of artists and audiences who share a passion for theater that champions sincerity and speaks to life’s profound moments.

 

PlayGround Located in San Francisco, CA, PlayGround is a leading Bay Area playwright incubator and theatre community hub. The mission of PlayGround is to support the development of significant new local voices for the theatre.  More than just another play development program, PlayGround fosters the creation of a true theatre community by nurturing the collaborative process between early career playwrights and established, professional actors and directors. The beneficiaries of our efforts are the writers, their collaborators and the audiences these artists serve – today and in the future.

 

Red Bull Theater Located in New York, NY, Red Bull Theater is dedicated to the presentation of vital and imaginative productions of heightened language plays and to the development of new plays written in a similar vein. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, Red Bull Theater engages the intellect and imagination of today's theatergoers through intimate and evocative stagings of great classic stories. Red Bull Theater aims to be in the vanguard of a new classical theater for the new century, creating a home for plays of heightened language and epic expression in intimate, imaginative productions.

Rogue Machine Theatre serves the greater Los Angeles, California community in developing and nurturing emerging playwrights, introducing important contemporary works to Southern California, and engaging diverse audiences by presenting vital, invigorating productions. The company seeks to heighten public conversation on social and cultural issues by examining and evoking dialogue about who, what, where, and how we are as a culture.

The House Theatre of Chicago unites Chicago, IL in the spirit of community through amazing feats of storytelling. The universality of the company’s stories makes The House the favorite of many non-traditional and younger theatre goers. The House Theatre of Chicago uses myth and spectacle to transform the landscape of theatre into a socially open and welcoming place for their community to engage in the ritual of storytelling. While the stories that they tell are epic in scope, the experience of them is intimate. The company brings people together, and in the tradition of Greek theatre, gives them a forum in which to laugh, cry, and experience catharsis together.

 

the TEAM The TEAM is a Brooklyn, NY based ensemble that creates new performance works that examine the experience of living in America today, and generates dialogue about our nation's past, present and future through national and international touring. Described as “Gertrude Stein meets MTV,” the company’s work crashes American history and mythology into modern stories to illuminate the current moment. They combine aggressive athleticism with emotional performances and intellectual rigor, keeping the brain, eyes and heart of the audience constantly stimulated.

 

Theater Wit Located in Chicago, IL, Theater Wit is led by four core values. Through laughter, Theater Wit connects with its community, building strong relationships of openness, trust, and camaraderie. With empathy and relevance, Theater Wit builds its programming, telling the stories of its community. With agility, TW makes critical and innovative decisions, creating new models and collaborative opportunities that address core challenges. The company provides an exceptional neighborhood theater experience for Chicago audiences, uniting its own aesthetic commitment to humor, surprise, intimacy and honest humanity with the finest contemporary work by its peers.

 

Theatre B Located in Fargo, ND, Theatre B engages regional audiences through innovative productions that are culturally and artistically invigorating. The company values creative work of high artistic integrity; a healthy ensemble and intentional family; the ongoing development of displaced professionals and emerging artists; thought-provoking art as inspiration for social action; the responsible stewardship of all resources; and the theatre as integral to a healthy cultural community.  The vision of Theatre B is to become a professional regional theatre built around a resident ensemble and enmeshed in the fabric of the community.

 

Williamston Theatre produces professional theatre that excites and engages audiences in Williamston, MI, while challenging us all to explore our lives. Williamston Theatre is an integral part of the cultural fabric of Michigan, making theatre for, by and about the people in this part of the world. The company pursues innovative collaboration in every aspect of their work, to establish a home for Midwest artists and engage audiences of diverse ages, cultures and economic backgrounds.

 

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