NEW THEATRE WORKS INITIATIVE (NTWI)

PRESS RELEASE

THE INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES

2011 RECIPIENTS OF “NEW THEATRE WORKS INITIATIVE" GRANTS

The Independence Foundation is pleased to announce the second year of funding for its New Theatre Works Initiative (NTWI), a program devised to encourage the development and production of new theatrical work in the Philadelphia region.  

The New Theatre Works Initiative is designed to assist in the development of theatre works by established nonprofit theatre companies in the region.  Rather than limit its scope to a single form, genre or developmental structure, these grants are intended to accommodate the numerous creative styles and unique perspectives of theatre groups to developing new work, whether it is engaging in interdisciplinary work, solo performance or various approaches to play-making.

The 2011 New Theatre Works Initiative recipients are:

1812 Productions ($75,000/3 years)  to formalize their new work development process while still maintaining the flexibility to respond to the unique needs of each specific piece by putting funding, and in turn, time in place in three key areas - Long Term Development, Short Term Development and a New Work Incubator.

Long Term Development - for shows that 1812 is committed to producing as a part of the following/future season, such as:  travel for research; developmental workshops with playwrights, actors, directors, dramaturges, choreographers and designers;  housing and travel for out of town playwrights to be in residence for the workshop period; or bringing in an outside artist to work with the creators of the piece.

Short Term Development - for new work being produced in the current season, including: new plays by outside playwrights that have been workshopped elsewhere and are ready for a premiere, 1812’s own work that is designed to have a short-term development process, and the perennial holiday show, This Is the Week That Is, which, while the title remains the same, is completely new each year. Activities may include workshops weeks or extra weeks of rehearsal, the hiring of a dramaturg, hiring another writer for This Is the Week That Is, or an extra week of space rental if the production needs of the new piece are extraordinary.

New Work Incubator -  for the generation and development of ideas and new work, with the goal that those ideas that have promise will then be able to go into the pipeline for either long-term or short-term development. At least three weeks of incubator activities will be programmed over the course of the season, including: workshopping ideas that are 1812 generated to see if they have "legs";  bringing in outside artists and directors and having the opportunity to work with the energies and ideas that they bring in; reading and workshopping new plays with the ability to involve the playwright and a dramaturg.

Arden Theatre Company ($150,000/3 years)  - to expand their new play development efforts with the addition of a new program called The Writer's Room, a playwright residency which will offer the creative space to develop a new play in a concentrated, focused, and supported process.   This residency will be an opportunity to fund a holistic process for writers, and simultaneously allow Arden audiences to experience firsthand the creation of a play.  Through this playwright residency, the Arden will introduce a new play development model that offers participating writers both monetary and institutional support for a period of time during which they travel to Philadelphia, are in residence at the Arden, develop the project on which they are working, and receive a modest production. The process will include three phases: a six week period during which the playwright will reside in Philadelphia and complete drafting the play; a four week period during which the play is workshopped and rehearsed, and a subsequent two week period in which the play is mounted as a small scale production, with rehearsal and revision time between performances. The guarantee of a small scale production is a key component of this residency, and will appeal to writers who dismiss writing for the theatre on grounds of a lack of immediacy. These staged performances will exist outside of the Arden’s subscription series and will not be considered the world premiere. Allowing writers to have the audience experience without the institutional pressures of presenting a world premiere will foster an environment in which they can refine their work while their original impulses are still fresh. The Arden may then choose to produce the play in its subscription season, or promote the further life of the play with other potential producers.  A corollary goal of this residency is to transform the Arden's relationship with the audience, to provide a greater degree of transparency and appreciation for the process through which new work is created. To this end, they plan to offer an engagement pass to their patrons, a program modeled on the First Look Repertory of New Work at Steppenwolf Theatre, founded by Arden Associate Artistic Director Edward Sobel. An "Inside the Writer's Room" pass would allow patrons entrance to each stage of the residency, and include attendance at an early reading, the opportunity to sit in on stages of the rehearsal process, talkbacks with the playwright and producer of the residency regarding the play and its development at the Arden, and tickets to the culminating staged performance. The goal is to enrich the audience's connection to the new work process, simultaneously whetting their appetite for new work programming and providing the resident playwright with a sample audience group to help shape and inform the development of their work. 

The deadline for the next round of New Theatre Works Initiative grants will be in the spring of 2012.