Three theater ensembles will develop new works in residencies with PlayMakers Repertory Company thanks to support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City.
Three theater ensembles will develop new works in residencies with PlayMakers Repertory Company thanks to support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City.
The foundation awarded PlayMakers $200,000 to fund residencies over the next three years for each of the three ensembles. This is the first time the foundation has recognized PlayMakers, the professional theater company based in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
PlayMakers will provide artistic, technical and administrative support for the ensembles as they create new theater pieces. Pig Iron Theatre Company of Philadelphia and SITI Company and The TEAM of New York City will be the ensembles in-residence. The ensembles will take their creations, incubated at PlayMakers, on to performances around the world.
The grant supports the Innovate@Carolina Campaign, a $125 million drive to help make Carolina a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the campaign, visit innovate.unc.edu.
“We’re deeply honored to receive this grant from the Mellon Foundation,” said PlayMakers producing artistic director Joseph Haj. “Remarkable ensembles such as Pig Iron, SITI and The TEAM are some of theater’s most daring and forward-thinking artists. Developing their future work with us will spread the word that innovation is a priority at UNC.”
The Mellon Foundation supports five core program areas, including performing arts. Recipients often are leaders in their fields, but they may also be promising newcomers or able to demonstrate new ways of overcoming obstacles to achieve program goals.
For information on PlayMakers’ 2010-2011 season, visit www.playmakersrep.org or call (919) 962-PLAY (7529).
Web sites:
PlayMakers contact: Connie Mahan, (919) 428-1744, cmahan@email.unc.edu
College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093, spurrk@email.unc.edu