Theatre Communications Group
/OVERVIEW: The Theatre Communications Group is one of the most all-encompassing supporters of the theater community. In addition to publishing American Theatre magazine, it provides programs and services including grants, research tools, and advocacy resources.
IP TAKE: The Theatre Communications Group' believes that theater has the ability to change the world, and this is reflected in its grantmaking and in the types of organizations it supports. TCG’s programs and services target a wide variety of theater professionals and organizations and seems to have something for almost everyone in the field. This is a transparent funder with a national and international focus, although most of its financial support stays in the U.S.
TCG’s grantmaking and other programmatic support is conducted through a Climate Action lens coupled with a DEI lens, particularly with regard to its grantees and the organizations it supports. TCG’s programs have changed relatively recently, so even seasoned grantseekers should check the website and subscribe to TCG Grant Updates page for the most current information. This is an accessible funder and invites questions or general inquiries here. Finally, anyone in the theater field—even those not looking for support—should consider becoming a member of TCG’s Circle in order to have access to its theater community and resources.
PROFILE: Founded in 1961 with a grant from the Ford Foundation, the Theatre Communications Group has a vast toolkit of resources for theater professionals at all levels of their career. The group seeks “to lead for a just and thriving theatre ecology.” It publishes the widely respected American Theatre magazine and offers a variety of services in addition to its grants programs. Some of these can only be accessed by members of TCG’s Circle, but much of it is publicly available.
Grants for Theater
As a theater-focused funder, TCG supports theaters, theater-adjacent organizations, and theater professionals at all levels in all of its programs, initiatives, and resources. Current grants for U.S.-based individuals and theater groups include:
Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships - This is a partnership grant with the William & Eva Fox Foundation providing $15,000 and $25,000 respectively for the professional development of actors and to help sustain actors who already have a long career history. Application deadline is at the end of each April.
Alan Schneider Director Award - This is a $7,500 award for "travel, research or other activities specifically focused on the development of the directing craft." Awards are given through an application process, which are due each February.
Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship – This is a $7,500 scholarship, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, to be used towards tuition, registration, and/or supplies for supplemental training in hand drawing and/or painting for costume design.
TCG also supports the Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards in partnership with the Edgerton Foundation.
The awards have given almost $18 million to over 500 non-profit theaters since 2006 and “give plays in development extended rehearsal period for the entire creative team, including the playwrights.”
Awarded plays have included the Tony Award winners All the Way, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Dear Evan Hansen, and Oslo, and the Pulitzer Prize winners The Hot Wing King, Cost of Living, The Flick, Water by the Spoonful, and Next to Normal. The New Play Award also went to Hamilton, which won both the Pulitzer and 11 Tony Awards in 2016.
While TCG is not a large international funder, it does operate a few programs with a global focus.
Global Connections - This program, funded by the Mellon Foundation, is composed of cultural exchange grants meant to encourage international collaboration that range from $5,000 travel grants to $10,000 project development grants. The program was put on hiatus in 2020.
Global Lab Fellows Program - This residency program, fully funded by the Mellon Foundation, brings “together 3 cohorts of path-breaking artists from around the world who were working at the intersection of performance and politics for 18 months each.”
Grants for BIPOC
As part of the Theater Communications Group’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion initiative, which works to “transform the national theatre field into a more equitable, inclusive and diverse community,” it offers programs for leaders of color, and for theaters that serve and are closely connected to communities of color.
THRIVE! Uplifting Theatres of Color – This program provides unrestricted funds for Black theatres, Indigenous theatres, and other theaters “which are closely connected to and have positive impact on their chosen communities.” Recipients must be U.S.-based, and in any given grant cycle, “a minimum of 30% of the grants will be awarded to Indigenous theatre organizations, a minimum of 20% will be awarded to Black theatre organizations, with the remaining amount open to all other Theatres of Color.” The program offers two opportunities for unrestricted support:
RESPOND: 25 rapid response grants of $10,000 each
RECOGNIZE: 20 general operating grants of $50,000 each, which also allows recipients to “participate in REBUILD: A Learning Cohort working with BIPOC consultants to strengthen their effectiveness in specific areas and may include financial planning, crisis management and scenario planning, and program evaluation.”
Rising Leaders of Color – This is a professional development program focused on BIPOC leaders in the theater that seeks to elevate and empower a cohort of early-career leaders. Previous recipients can be seen here.
Nurture Theatres of Color -TCG has outlined plans to “develop programming to address capacity-building amongst culturally-specific theatres,” and help to raise the profile of these theaters and increase awareness of their importance for the national culture.
As mentioned, some of the ancillary services TCG provides is only available for members, so it is good to take a look at the various membership programs to see if it might be worthwhile to join.
Grants for Arts and Culture
TCG supports public libraries, local community centers, universities and performing arts training programs via its In the Stacks program, which gives 50 book credits of $500 each to qualifying organizations. Credits go toward books published by TCG Books and cover purchasing and shipping, or “a subscription to the TCG Books Play Collection on Drama Online.” A list of TCG Books is available here.
Other Grant Opportunities:
TCG also provides a wide variety of opportunities for support that go beyond financial funding, including a Research & Resources page that provides access to research about the current state of the American not-for-profit theater community and serves as a repository of resources for theater professionals, including guidance about how to advocate for the community.
TCG’s Circle is a members-based tool that helps theater professionals connect with other members of their community in a way similar to listservs and social media. In addition to discussion boards, it provides further resources that are kept up to date by contributions from other theater professionals.
Important Grant Details:
It is important to note that Theatre Communications Group works to center BIPOC leaders and underrepresented communities through its Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative in all of its grantmaking and other program areas. Layered atop this is its Climate Actions considerations through which it works to help the theatre community incorporate “regenerative practices, decolonized movement-building, and renewable resources.”
TCG has given over $43 million in grants, subsidies, and scholarships since it was established, and distributed over $227,000 in grants in a recent year.
The average grant size is $10,000.
It supports both individuals and theatre organizations.
Many of its grants and professional development programs are offered in partnership with other organizations, including The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Hearst Foundations, Howard Gilman Foundation, Walt Disney Imagineering, and the William & Eva Fox Foundation.
To get the latest information about grant availability and application procedures and deadlines, subscribe to TCG Grant Updates. Reach out with questions about TCG’s grantmaking at grantmaking@tcg.org.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
