Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

Theatre Initiative

Overview

In 2000, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation launched the Theatre Initiative to support the country's nonprofit theatre community. The initiative has three components:

• Leading National Theatres Program – This program supports regional theatres of national significance through grants that combine multi-year artistic program support with matching endowment support.



• New Generations Program – This competitive re-granting program is administered by Theatre Communications Group to support mentoring opportunities for emerging theatre professionals, audience development projects and international fellowships.



• Ensemble Theatre Program – Launched in 2005, this program provides artistic program grants to ensemble theatre companies of national significance, and supports a re-granting program administered by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters for creation and touring projects that build collaborations among ensemble theatre companies, arts presenters and theatres.
  

As of April 2006, the two foundations have invested a total of $38.6 million in the Theatre Initiative.

Background

Prior to developing the Theatre Initiative, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation collaborated with Theatre Communications Group to conduct a year-long study in 1999 to identify pressing issues in the theatre field and develop appropriate funding strategies. The areas of need identified included stabilizing theatres with endowments, mentoring a corps of future leaders and cultivating new audiences.

The two foundations created the Theatre Initiative in 2000 to address these needs through the Leading National Theatres Program and the New Generations Program, which provide support for regional theatres. As the initiative matured and the foundations continued to convene leaders in the theatre and presenting fields, it became apparent that a critical funding gap also existed for ensemble theatre companies.

While regional theatres produce seasons based at facilities they either own or operate in their local communities, ensemble theatre companies are groups of artists that work together over time without ties to a specific facility – and are thus more likely and able to tour their productions. Recognizing the importance of ensemble theatre companies in bringing theatrical works to a wider and more diverse audience, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation added the Ensemble Theatre Program to the initiative in 2005.