WASHINGTON, D.C.:The National New Play Network has announced its 2015–16 grant recipients, including playwright residencies, producer residencies, collaboration funds, prizes, and commissions totaling more than $125,000.
“The board, staff, and affiliated artists of the National New Play Network are honored once again to expand the impact of our programs with these announcements,” said executive director Nan Barnett in a statement. “These funds will reach the audiences and artists of communities across the U.S. From San Diego to South Florida, from Tucson to Atlanta, and from Minneapolis to Dallas and beyond, these NNPN member theatres and theatremakers will further the network’s vision of revolutionizing the ways theatres collaborate to support new plays.”
Jennifer Fawcett is the recipient of the 2015 Smith Prize for Political Theatre to develop her play about a mother baking a pie for her son on Death Row who has requested his last meal. Fawcett was the NNPN playwright-in-residence at Curious Theatre Company. Her play The Toymaker’s Warwas presented at the NNPN National Showcase of New Plays, and she has developed two projects at the NNPN/Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights Workshop.
The Borderlands Theater and playwright Virginia Grise will receive the 2015 Annual Commission for Grise’s project Their Dogs Came with Them, about four Mexican-Americans in East Los Angeles during the 1960s, based on the novel by Helena Maria Viramontes.
Playwrights Emily Dendinger and Trey Anthony will receive grant support from NNPN and will be hosted by Curious Theatre Company and Horizon Theatre Company for a season-long residencies.
Five theatremakers have been selected to serve as producers in residence at NNPN’s core member theatres: Clifton Guterman at Actor’s Express, Jess Hutchinson at Kitchen Dog Theater, Adrienne Boris atNew Repertory Theatre, Martin Damien Wilkins at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte and Addie Gorlin at Mixed Blood Theatre. The producers-in-residence will educate the new leaders about collaboration, successful models, and alternative networks for supporting new plays.
The NNPN Collaboration Fund partners core member theatres with other theatres to collaborate on the development of a new project. Borderlands Theater, Cleveland Public Theatre, Milagro/Miracle Theatre Group,Unicorn Theatre and El Cìrculo Teatral will work together on a project. The second project will be a collaboration between Florida Studio Theatre, New Theatre and Orlando Shakespeare Theater.
