THRIVE!, a new initiative from Theatre Communications Group, will provide financial support, professional development, and technical assistance to US-based Black theatres, Indigenous theatres, and all theatres of color. The program is supported by a $1.635 million gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
"BITOC have made vital contributions to their communities and to the entirety of our theatre ecology in spite of pernicious racist inequities in funding," says TCG Executive Director and CEO Teresa Eyring. "We believe that when these barriers are removed, and BITOC have equitable access to fully realize their potential, our field will truly thrive."
THRIVE! will provide unrestricted grants, including rapid response grants to address immediate need; an initiative to center the experiences and leadership of BITOC, and a disseminating of ideas through American Theatre magazine, the TCG circle, TCG's national conference, and other platforms.
The initiative has been developed in partnership with an advisory circle of BIPOC theatre leaders, including Andrea Assaf, founding artistic director, art2action; Miranda Gonzalez, producing artistic director, Urban Theatre; Andre Harrington, professor of design at California State University; Dr. Nicole Hodges Persley, artistic director, KC Melting Pot Theater; Leslie Ishii, artistic director, Perseverance Theatre; Jonathan McCrory, executive artistic director, National Black Theatre; Alexandra Meda, artistic director, Teatro Luna; Kate Moore Heaney, artistic producer, Noor Theatre; Meena Natarajan, executive and artistic director, Pangea World Theatre; Ryan Opalanietet Pierce, artistic director, Eagle Project; DeLanna Studi, artistic director, Native Voices; K. Zaheerah Sultan, founder and executive director of Mind Your Business Art; Meredith Suttles, managing director, Marin Theatre Company; and Torange Yeghiazarian, founder, Golden Thread Productions.
The announcement comes at the close of TCG's THRIVE! Week, a virtual event running June 7–11 presenting programming by, for, and about BIPOC theatre makers.
For more information, visit TCG.org.
