Theater Alliance to Receive Grant from National Endowment for the Arts

Theater Alliance has been approved for a $20,000 Art Works grant to support this spring's World Premiere production of The Blackest Battle, written by DC theater artist Psalmayene 24. This is the first time Theater Alliance will have received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Overall, the National Endowment for the Arts has approved 1,187 grants totaling $27.3 million in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The Art Works funding category supports projects that focus on public engagement with, and access to, various forms of excellent art across the nation; the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence; learning in the arts at all stages of life; and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life.

"The arts are at the heart of our communities, connecting people through shared experiences and artistic expression," said Arts Endowment chairman Mary Anne Carter. "The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support projects like the World Premiere of The Blackest Battle."

"We are ecstatic to have this production supported by the National Endowment for the Arts," said Theater Alliance Producing Artistic Director Raymond O. Caldwell. "Not only will this grant have a transformative effect on the biggest production of our season, but now the country will soon know what DC has understood for years - that Psalmayene 24 is a powerful and innovative storyteller, and his plays demand our attention."

The Blackest Battle, which opens in May, marks the culmination of a two-year commission process between Theater Alliance and Psalmayene 24. In that time, through Theater Alliance's Hothouse New Play Development, the script has been workshopped, performed at the Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival, and given dramaturgical support throughout the process.

The play - a hip-hop musical set in the not-too-distant-future - examines Black-on-Black violence through warring rap factions while chronicling a story of Black romance.

"What is most revolutionary about this work," said Caldwell, "is its absolute centering of Black power, Black community, and Black love."

The production will be directed by Theater Alliance's Producing Artistic Director Raymond O. Caldwell and Manna-Symone Middlebrooks. The production is sponsored by Holly Hassett and made possible through the additional support of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Revada Foundation, and Season 17 Sponsors David and Jean Heilman Grier.

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

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