LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles New Play Project (LANPP) has announced new grant opportunities that will support original work presented on Los Angeles stages. The two-tiered grant program offers $20,000 grants to playwrights and up to $20,000 to producing entities supporting the productions.

“We are launching this funding support at a time when theatres, large and small, remain closed,” said director Paula Holt in a statement. “However, we are passionately invested in the fact that live theatre will not just come back, but will come roaring back and flourish as we process what we’ve been missing: shared experiences, physical proximity, and stories that shape our lives. We will accept original writing submissions this spring, and plan to announce the first writing awards in fall of 2021.”

The grant is the brainchild of Holt and associate director Nathan Birnbaum, and it is administered in partnership with the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television and the UCLA Foundation. It is funded by a benefactor who has asked to remain anonymous.

The goal of these awards is to contribute exciting, high-quality original work on small and mid-size stages in Los Angeles County that will then resonate beyond Los Angeles and to encourage the production of new and untried plays. LANPP encourages producers in partnership with playwrights to submit new plays under consideration for their upcoming season. Submissions will be reviewed by a peer panel and LANPP will then reward the strongest works.

More information and submission guidelines are available on LANPP’s website.