NEW YORK CITY: The William & Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), have announced the eleventh round of Fox Foundation Actor Fellowships recipients. The fellowship program, which will total $175,000 this round, aims to further actors’ artistic and professional development by deepening the artists’ relationships with not-for-profit theatres. All recipients of this round of Fox Fellowships are committed to giving back to and sharing their artistic talents and skills with their respective communities.
“The Fox Foundation expresses our continued appreciation of the long-term collaborative relationship between Fox and TCG,” said Robert P. Warren, president of the Fox Foundation, in a statement. “This program has provided extraordinary opportunities for Fox Fellows to further their artistic development and enhance their craft. The proposals from this year’s recipients hold great promise, not only for them personally and professionally, but also for their sponsoring theatres and the communities they so richly serve.”
Fox Foundation Exceptional Merit awards are given to actors with 10 years or more of professional experience. Recipients receive a $15,000 gift for continuing their artistry, and an additional $10,000 is available to relieve student loan debt.
Khanisha Foster of Chance Theater in Anaheim, Calif., is the recipient of an Exceptional Merit award. She will lead a code-switching workshop series hosted at Chance Theater to create a training ground for multicultural actors. Khanisha also hopes to expand the series to include clown and physical transformation workshops, digital-storytelling workshops, and story-mining workshops.
Taous Claire Khazem of Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis is also a recipient of an Exceptional Merit award. Her goal is to expand Mixed Blood’s neighborhood programming by recreating a project previously she developed in Algeria called The Kabyle Folktale Project. The project will bring the Somali community in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood together to share folktales they remember from their childhood. In addition, Khazem will work with young actors to devise an original play incorporating physical storytelling. She will be a resident actor in Mixed Blood’s upcoming season.
Bobby Moreno of Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City will use his Exceptional Merit grant to develop a one-man show about his journey to sobriety. Moreno aims to have a workshop production at Ensemble Studio Theatre, and then present his show at college campuses. He will also use this fellowship to take a series of classes in varied disciplines to expand his skillset.
Vanessa Severo of Missouri’s Kansas City Repertory Theatre is the recipient of an Exceptional Merit award and will utilize her Laban movement training to develop her one-woman show Frida: A Self Portrait. She also plans to offer a master class and professional actor training sessions with actors of color and performers with disabilities.
Fox Foundation Distinguished Achievement awards grant actors with 20 years or more of experience. The recipients receive $25,000, which will support the longevity of their careers, and they also receive resources to adapt to physical changes as an actor later in their career as well as changes to casting.
Mia Katigbak of Ma-Yi Theater Company in New York City is the recipient of a Distinguished Achievement award, and will use her gift to spearhead a series of master classes at Ma-Yi with a group of Asian-American actors.
Luverne Gerald Seifert of Ten Thousand Things Theater in Minneapolis is also a recipient of a Distinguished Achievement award. With his grant, Seifert plans to travel to Switzerland and France to study with two classically-trained clowns in preparation of co-creating and performing in a devised comedy for Ten Thousand Things.
“One theme that emerges from these actors’ powerful proposals is a commitment to giving back—to younger actors, to non-traditional audiences, to students, and more,” said Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG, in a statement. “Thanks to our enduring partnership with the Fox Foundation, this program will help empower these artists and their participating theatres to give more fully of their talents through rigorous professional development and community engagement.”
