RESIDENCY PROGRAMS FOR PLAYWRIGHTS
Since 1997, the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights has helped playwrights create new work while in residence at a host theatre, and encouraged them to become an integral part of the theatre's artistic life and community activities. In 2004-2005, the program awarded grants of $25,000 to eleven playwrights, while the host theatres received $4,500 to enhance their ability to support the residencies. In a new feature of this program the Ford Foundation's New Works Program awarded playwrights up to an additional $1,000 to support individual ongoing life needs such as health insurance and child care.
NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights Grant Recipients
- Lisa D'Amour and Infernal Bridegroom Productions (Houston, TX) to work on Ms. D'Amour's new play, Hide Town, which examines society's desire for security and its urge to normalize the unfamiliar; and to take part in the Houston Writers in the Schools program, which helps students develop their creative and analytic skills.
- Joann Farias and Miracle Theatre Group (Portland, OR) to work on Ms. Farias' play Oscar Goes to Mexico, based in part on the Mayan sacred text the Popol Vuh, with a contemporary setting; and to teach playwriting and performance workshops and serve as an artist-educator and mentor for young Latino participants in the company's community programs.
- Kirsten Greenidge and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, DC) to work on The Curious Walk of the Salamander, a contemporary story about the struggles between a fifteen-year-old girl and her divorced parents; and for Ms. Greenidge to serve as the lead instructor for YOUTH INK: the Power of Playmaking, Woolly Mammoth's in-school playwriting program.
- Noah Haidle and South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa, CA) to write Local Time, a twelve-play cycle, and to participate in the theatre's Neighborhood Conservatory program, an after-school activity that brings the art of theatre to underserved and culturally diverse youngsters.
- Jordan Harrison and the Empty Space Theatre (Seattle, WA) to write a "time-jumping pop fairy tale" in which the music of the 1960s girl groups collides with Richard Wagner's Liebestod at the palace of Mad King Ludwig; and for Mr. Harrison to lead workshops on language and music-driven playwriting at Seattle colleges and community centers.