17 NYC Theaters Awarded Total Of $1.3M To Support Emerging Playwrights And Directors

The Tow Foundation has revealed that fourteen New York City Theaters have been awarded a grant to participate in The Tow Foundation Playwright Residency Program. Additionally, for the first time, three theaters have been given a grant to support their programs for directors. The Tow Playwright Residency program, founded in 2013, offers playwrights the opportunity to focus on their craft, gain experience and insight into all aspects of the nonprofit theater world and debut their work. Each theater has been awarded a one year, $82,500 grant to support their selected playwright. The three programs focusing on directors will each receive a one-year grant of $50,000 for their work to train and support the careers and creative development of emerging directors.

Since the launch of The Tow Playwright-in-Residence program, 27 playwrights, at 18 theaters, have been given precisely what all playwrights seek: an artistic home, a living wage, and a full production of their work. They have gone on to secure new commissions, additional productions and teaching positions. Participating theaters consistently report that the residency provides concentrated time to nurture promising but untested playwrights and emboldens them to continue seeking out diverse voices and urgent stories that might otherwise be overlooked.

Eileen Wiseman, program director at The Tow Foundation, says, "We are honored to be able to play a small role in helping theaters support playwrights and directors whose vision and creativity bring to life new and vital stories on stages across New York City."

2023-25 Recipients of The Tow Foundation Playwright Residency Program and Director Grants:

2023-24 Tow Playwrights-in-Residence

ATLANTIC THEATER COMPANY, Shayan Lotfi

HERE ARTS CENTER, Nia Ostrow Witherspoon

PAGE 73 PRODUCTIONS, Majkin Holmquist

TEATRO CIRCULO, Ian Robles

THE FLEA THEATER, Jesus I. Valles

SOHO REP, Raja Feather Kelly

2024-25 Tow Playwrights-in-Residence

ARS NOVA, Christopher Ford and Dakota Rose

THE BUSHWICK STARR, Michelle J. Rodriguez

Ma-Yi Theater Company, Lisa Sanaye Dring

Vineyard Theatre, Nazareth Hassan Hagood

The New Group, Preston Crowder

WP THEATER, Francisca Da Silveira

The Civilians, Martha Redbone

The Public Theater, Else Went

2023-2024 Theater Director Grants

Clubbed Thumb

NATIONAL BLACK THEATER

ROUNDABOUT THEATER COMPANY

About The Tow Foundation:

The Tow Foundation was established in 1988 by Leonard and Claire Tow as a way to give back to the communities that shaped them. Its five primary impact areas are equity and justice, medicine and public health, arts and culture, higher education, and civic engagement. Grounded in its decades of work in Connecticut and New York and based in New Canaan, CT, the foundation supports visionary leaders and nonprofit organizations to find and enact innovative solutions to persistent inequality. It works to ensure people can become full participants in their communities, achieve transformative and lasting progress, and develop approaches that allow everyone to reach their full potential.

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