NNPN ANNOUNCES $140,000 IN GRANTS TO MEMBER THEATERS FOR 2009-10

WASHINGTON, DC - The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country’s leading alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, will award grants totaling over $140,000 to its 26 member theaters in 2009-10, with participation in nearly every region of the country. The grants were announced at the organization's Annual Conference on June 20 in Dallas, TX, hosted by Kitchen Dog Theater.

CONTINUED LIFE OF NEW PLAYS FUND
NNPN’s flagship program supports three theaters which mount the same new play within a year. The result is a "rolling world premiere" through which playwrights develop new works with three different creative teams for three different communities of patrons. Awards ranging from $5,000 to $6,300 have been awarded for 2009-10 for the following projects:

26 MILES by Quiara Hudes – Alliance Theatre (Atlanta)*, Curious Theatre Company (Denver), New Theatre (Coral Gables, FL)
JIHAD JONES AND THE KALASHNIKOV BABES by Yussef El Guindi – Golden Thread (San Francisco)*, InterAct Theatre Company (Philadelphia)*, Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas)
THE RANT by Andrew Case – New Theatre (Coral Gables, FL)*, InterAct Theatre Company (Philadelphia)*, New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, NJ)
SHOTGUN by John Biguenet - Southern Rep (New Orleans), Orlando Shakespeare Theater (Orlando), Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, FL)
SUNLIGHT by Sharr White - Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA), New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, NJ), Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis)
YANKEE TAVERN by Steven Dietz – Florida Stage (Manalapan, FL), Curious Theatre Company (Denver), New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, NJ)
*projects that began in 2008-09, and are completing in 2009-10

EMERGING PLAYWRIGHTS RESIDENCIES
The Emerging Playwrights Residencies were established in 2007 to support playwrights graduating from qualified MFA programs for season-long residencies at NNPN member theaters. Playwrights selected for the program receive stipends of $8,750 to learn from and engage with NNPN members. 2009-10 recipient theaters and playwrights are:

•Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, FL)/Sarah Sander (U of I Playwright's Workshop)
•Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA)/Steve Yockey (NYU Tisch School)
•Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey (Madison, NJ)/TBA (Rutgers)

COMMISSION
NNPN awards an annual new-play commission, selected by the membership, in the amount of $3,500. The 2009 Commission has been awarded to Elaine Romero for her play Ponzi, nominated by Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas).

NATIONAL SHOWCASE OF NEW PLAYS
An award of $7,000 goes to Atlanta's Actor's Express and Horizon Theatres to host the 2009 National Showcase of New Plays, scheduled for December 4-6. A "traveling trade show", the NSNP showcases six new plays selected from member theaters' submissions.

ABOUT NNPN
The National New Play Network (NNPN) is the country's leading alliance of leading non-profit professional theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has commissioned over a dozen playwrights, provided seven MFA graduates with paid residencies, and supported nearly 50 productions nationwide through its innovative Continued Life of New Plays Fund, which creates "rolling world premieres" of new plays. Through these activities and others, NNPN has granted nearly a half million dollars to theaters and artists in the past ten years. Hundreds of artists have gained employment through these efforts in the 24 regions of the country where NNPN member theaters are located. NNPN receives substantial support from the Mellon Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.