WBEZ Chicago: Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre will reboot a program that supports new plays after receiving a grant from the Stephen Sondheim Foundation, an organization established under the will of the revered composer-lyricist.
The foundation has announced an inaugural round of cultural grant funding.
2 comments:
Theater supporting theater is one of the best ways to keep this industry alive as we constantly face a lack of funding. I also appreciate that the funding is going to create programs meant to bring up and build the community rather than just put on a show as theater is just about community. No matter what you love about theater it all boils down to community as theater could never be produced by one person. It is always a team of people coming together to tell stories and bring joy and love to the surrounding population. Bringing new people into the community and igniting their love for theater will allow the industry to continue to sustain itself as new work will continue to be produced. When new stories are being told we will always need people to create them and hopefully the audience will be intrigued enough to continue to watch.
Good for them. I really like the work Steppenwolf Theater has produced this century, especially the original staging of Cormac McCarthy’s final play The Sunset Limited which was a big inspiration for the (in my opinion flawed) movie adaptation with Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson (though I love Sam Jackson’s performance). I think smaller theaters which debut original works are the most important thing in theater. My favorite theater company, the American Repertory Theater does just this, debuting shows like SIX in 2017. Without theaters like this, it makes the path for up and coming shows and playwrights much more difficult, and the field of live theater would be much reduced. The grant that Steppenwolf are receiving is to renew their scouting program which had to be cut in 2020. This is a good development in the recovery of our industry from the crippling effect the pandemic had on it. I know the ART saw a lot of leadership and organizational strife and shakeups during the 2020 to 2023~ time period, and it’s good to know that the big wigs in the industry recognize that and are trying to get things back on track for some of the most vital pieces in the theater landscape.
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