TheatreWorks Receives Funding For New Works From National Endowment For The Arts

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support its New Works Festival and the upcoming World Premiere of Nan and the Lower Body. Developed in the 2019 TheatreWorks New Works Festival, Jessica Dickey's play Nan and the Lower Body is scheduled to make its World Premiere in July 2022 in the company's 51st season, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Associate and Director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli.

In addition to facilitating the premiere of this highly anticipated play, this grant will provide composers and writers the opportunity to develop their work and artistry by forming collaborations that shape new forms of theater with the support of professional staff and resources in an upcoming TheatreWorks New Works Festival, to be presented digitally in 2021 (dates to be announced).

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's project is among 1,073 projects across America totaling nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category.

"The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley," said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. "TheatreWorks is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year."

"We are grateful for the National Endowment of the Arts' for funding our New Works efforts," said TheatreWorks Executive Director Phil Santora. "This vital grant allows us to support artists during this difficult period and to continue develop new plays and musicals that will engage future theatre audiences for years to come. In addition, we are looking forward to presenting the World Premiere of a thrilling new work developed at our New Works Festival, Nan and the Lower Body, in 2022."

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

Presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's New Works Initiative, New Works Festival seeks out new material and serves as a collaborative matchmaker for writers and composers. The Festival has launched many new works onto TheatreWorks's main stage and to national productions, including Broadway's Tony Award-winning Best Musical Memphis. The Festival has given playgoers their first looks at new works by such luminaries as Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lippa, Joe DiPietro, David Hein & Irene Sankoff, Marsha Norman, Paul Gordon, Rajiv Joseph, and Beth Henley.

Nan and the Lower Body was an audience favorite at TheatreWorks's 2019 New Works Festival. When Pap smear inventor Dr. George Papanicolaou takes on a brilliant new assistant, Nan Day, he senses that she is hiding a secret. As Dr. Pap discovers the truth, he learns that he may hold the key to solving her greatest mystery. This frank and funny play explores the mysteries of the heart and provides a personal perspective to the revolutionary technology that has saved the lives of millions but caused moral dilemmas along the way.