Yale Receives Grant to Establish Center for New Theatre

Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre (James Bundy, Dean/Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean/Managing Director) announce a $2.85 million gift from the Robina Foundation to establish the Yale Center for New Theatre.

 
Through the Yale Center for New Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre will substantially increase its annual commissions of new plays and musicals, and support these commissions through all stages of artist-driven development, including residencies, readings, workshops, and full productions.  The Yale Center for New Theatre will also facilitate playwrights' residencies as lecturers at the School of Drama, and the development of curriculum in writing for musical theatre at Yale.  Paula Vogel, recently appointed Eugene O'Neill Professor (Adjunct) and Chair of Playwriting at the School of Drama, will also serve as Playwright-in-Residence at Yale Rep.

 
The gift includes a $600,000 production fund to be administered by the Yale Center for New Theatre as support provided to other not-for-profit theatres producing world premiere or second productions of plays commissioned by Yale Rep through the Center.

 
The Yale Center for New Theatre will be overseen by Dean/Artistic Director James Bundy and Associate Artistic Director Jennifer Kiger, director of Yale Repertory Theatre's new play program.

 
"For more than four decades, the Yale Repertory Theatre has developed and produced new work by some of the most vital and important voices in contemporary drama," says Yale University President Richard C. Levin.  "This generous gift from the Robina Foundation is a direct investment in the future of the American theatre, and ensures that the Yale Rep will continue to have a significant and lasting impact on the development of new work for the stage."

 
"The Yale Center for New Theatre will provide artists with the time and resources to create new work, and build a larger community of playwrights, composers, lyricists and directors promoting professional training in every discipline of the theatre," says James Bundy, Dean of Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre.  "We are particularly pleased to extend meaningful support to emerging playwrights through commissions and production opportunities that help them reach a wider audience."

 
"The Robina Foundation is pleased to participate in Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre's commitment to providing playwrights with the means to actively pursue careers in the theatre at a time when more lucrative forms of media may lure them away," says Gordon M. Aamoth, President of the Robina Foundation.  "Supporting the creation of new work will help maintain this creative wellspring.  Supporting them in a university environment, in particular, offers a unique and especially creative venue for developing plays and for nurturing their talents and imagination."

 
The Robina Foundation, a Minnesota-based private grantmaking foundation, seeks to positively impact critical social issues by encouraging innovation and financially supporting transformative projects of its four institutional partners.  These partners, selected by the Foundation's founder, James H. Binger, are Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN; The Council on Foreign Relations, New York, NY; University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN; and Yale University, New Haven, CT.

 
A champion of new work, Yale Repertory Theatre has produced well over 100 world, American, and regional premieres—including two Pulitzer Prize winners and four other nominated finalists—by emerging and established playwrights.  Eleven Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering more than 40 Tony Award® nominations and eight Tony Awards, and Yale Rep itself is the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

 
In its 42-year history, Yale Repertory Theatre has produced the world premieres of plays by David Adjmi, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Lee Blessing, Christopher Durang, Jules Feiffer, Athol Fugard, Marcus Gardley, Kama Ginkas, John Guare, Albert Innuarato, Walton Jones, Adrienne Kennedy, Arthur Kopit, Sunil Thomas Kuruvilla, Wendy MacLeod, Julie McKee, Terrence McNally, Richard Nelson, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Rabe, Keith Reddin, José Rivera, Sarah Ruhl, Sam Shepard, William Styron, Derek Walcott, August Wilson, and Doug Wright, among many others.

 
Current Yale Repertory Theatre commissions include Notes from Underground, a new play by Robert Woodruff and Bill Camp adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, which will have its world premiere at Yale Rep in March 2009; as well as original plays by David Adjmi, Hilary Bell, Marcus Gardley, Amy Herzog, Naomi Iizuka, Rolin Jones, Elizabeth Meriwether, Octavio Solis, Kate Walat, Anne Washburn, and Marisa Wegrzyn; and a new musical by playwright Adam Bock and composer Todd Almond based on Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

 
Founded in 1966 to serve as the Master Teacher to the professionals-in-training at Yale School of Drama, Yale Repertory Theatre's resident artistic staff includes School of Drama faculty members David Budries (Sound Design Advisor), Liz Diamond (Resident Director), Ming Cho Lee (Set Design Advisor), Jane Greenwood (Costume Design Advisor), Jess Goldstein (Resident Costume Designer), Mary Hunter (Stage Management Advisor), Catherine Sheehy (Resident Dramaturg), Rick Sordelet (Fight Advisor), Stephen Strawbridge (Resident Lighting Designer), Jennifer Tipton (Lighting Design Advisor), Paula Vogel (Playwright-in-Residence), Walton Wilson (Voice and Speech Advisor), Michael Yeargan (Resident Set Designer), and Evan Yionoulis (Resident Director).