Village Theatre Announces Invited Residents And Open Submissions For New BIPOC Residency Program

Village Theatre announces its invited residents and open submissions for its new Northwest Creator Residency program, seeking Seattle-area Black, Indigenous, and POC artistic creators to begin work on any element of a new musical in digital residence between January-July 2021.

The inaugural invited residents include actor-writer-filmmaker Lauren Du Pree, multimedia journalist and dance artist Imana Gunawan, and designer Lex Marcos. Each creator will receive a $1,000 residency to begin work on any new element of musical theatre to be developed in digital residence during the 2020-2021 season plus additional support as needed to continue development. Five residencies remain available through open submission.

The new program is designed to foster artists' humanity rather than focusing on one particular project. Creators will be chosen based on their artistic vision, residency goals, and work samples. Artists are encouraged to bring their unique voice and point of view to their project and to create what is most present in their artistic spirit at this moment. Artists are encouraged to create just about anything, but work generated must use (or intend to use) music and lyrics to further a story, otherwise content is unrestricted. Any work created should be early in its inception and/or development.

Submissions for the remaining residency slots are currently open and are due by December 7. Applications will be reviewed by an evaluation panel made up of residency co-producer Alex Crozier, Village Associate Artistic Director, Brandon Ivie, Village Artistic Director Jerry Dixon, and a paid evaluation panel made up of Randy Ford (Creator|Advocate), Kathy Hsieh (Theatre Artist & Activist), Nikki Long (dancer/choreographer), and Sara Porkalob (storyteller activist).

Application and more information can be found on the Village Theatre website.