NEW THEATRE WORKS INITIATIVE (NTWI)

PRESS RELEASE

THE INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES

2012 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 2012 New Theatre Works Initiative recipients are:

Bristol Riverside Theatre (BRT) ($75,000/3 years) - for the expansion of their America Rising program,a staged reading series of new plays by emerging American playwrights. Now in its fifth year, America Rising is more than a simple reading series. It connects audiences to contemporary plays, celebrates emerging playwrights, develops their suburban audience for more cutting edge  contemporary work (either thematically or structurally challenging), and it creates a family style atmosphere in which plays are  discussed and playwrights are able to watch an audience respond to their work.  To create an informal and welcoming atmosphere, readings are preceded by a communal meal and followed by a discussion with the playwright. BRT has found that this environment gives audiences permission to engage with pieces they might otherwise shy away from, and many become fans of these emerging  playwrights.  Now, as part of a major programming  and expansion project commemorating its 25th Anniversary Season, BRT has recently created its first rehearsal studio. With the Studio now available, America Rising has a permanent and comfortable home at BRT. The space, which has the feel and flexibility of a black box, has proven to be the perfect fit for this program and the casual, "living room" feel to the greenroom has enhanced the experience for their patrons.  Funding from the  Independence Foundation will fundamentally change America Rising from a "reading series", to a "workshop series"; allowing a full week of rehearsals, giving playwrights and actors an opportunity to delve into the new pieces, not just read them aloud. During that week of rehearsals BRT expects scripts and characters to evolve so that what the audience responds to is not a "first go" at a seated  reading, but a rehearsed, script in hand staged workshop. BRT is a perfect retreat for writers and actors to work on new plays in a concentrated way. With beautiful apartments right on the Delaware River; housing, the rehearsal studio, the theatre; a gym; restaurants;  and grocery stores all within walking distance, and situated between New York and Philadelphia – BRT is uniquely located to offer an easily accessible, comfortable retreat for writers. Funding will also provide a small marketing budget for America Rising. Currently, marketing is limited to the season brochure and an annual letter to previous America Rising ticket buyers. Audience growth has been  entirely based on word of mouth. With a unique marketing campaign for the series BRT is confident that more community members would participate in this theatrical R&D and that America Rising can grow into a laboratory of new play work.

The Wilma Theater ($150,000/3 years)  - to pilot and inaugurate The Wilma Institute as a new project development model uniting creators and performers in a dedicated long-term process. The Wilma Institute will establish the Wilma as a true artistic home in  Philadelphia through investing in the training and development of individual artists, and by placing a company of theater artists, led by a renowned playwright, at the center of the approach to creating new work.  The Wilma Institute extends the Wilma's  emphasis on training and mentorship, and its desire to call forth a common artistic language, to artistic project development. It is a direct expression and a clear implementation of the Wilma's emphasis on long-term artistic and organizational growth.  The Institute undertakes a model of project development that involves assembling a company of actors, designers, and a  dramaturg at the beginning of the process, then placing a major playwright at the center of this company to create a new theater work – revitalizing an older tradition of artistic production in a way that will produce vital new work, within a community, beginning at the point of inception. This process of development, taking place over a two-season period, will establish the conditions  for  innovative and courageous theater by encouraging experimentation and providing continuity and trust for the work's creators  and performers.  The pilot project for The Wilma Institute explores the experiences of veterans of America's current foreign wars  by developing a theatrical work with playwright Paula Vogel, a full company of actors and theater artists, and Iraqi and Afghan  veterans in the region.  During the long project-development process there is enormous potential for outreach and involvement, especially for veterans'  groups and area students. Ms. Vogel feels this project has "a unique opportunity to share the process of physical work, writing  workshops and acting training, with the educational community" in an open forum. Because conversation between recent veterans and artists in residence is crucial to the success of the  project, establishing a forum for that conversation will be a crucial early step. That forum has the potential to connect Wilma artists, veterans, and area students in a variety of ways: through acting workshops for students and participating veterans; through regular opportunities for students to engage and observe the company's  evolving work; and even ultimately sharing the process of writing and developing experimentation, text, and expression for a final  script with members of the Wilma's subscriber base. Successful completion of this first Institute production will establish a model for subsequent and ongoing project-development activities that adopt the same company-based approach to artistic project development.

The deadline for the next round of New Theatre Works Initiative grants will be in the spring of 2013.