PRESS Room
January 20, 2024
Cleveland Public Theatre (OH), Company One Theatre (MA), Crowded Fire Theater (CA), Mosaic Theater Company (DC), and Perseverance Theatre (AK)
Announce
Major Grant from the Mellon Foundation for the Innovative Future of American Theatre Cohort.
Cleveland Public Theatre (OH), Company One (MA), Crowded Fire Theater (CA), Mosaic Theater Company (DC), and Perseverance Theatre (AK) are thrilled to announce an exciting new collaboration entitled The Future of American Theatre Cohort, bolstered by a generous $2.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Each of these organizations will receive $500,000 from Mellon over two years to support their ongoing innovation, cultural change-making, and ambitious artistic programming.
In the face of dwindling arts funding and shrinking audiences, and while many theaters have been forced to shutter, these five small to midsize companies came together in Spring 2023 to share resources, foster collective learning, and champion new visions for the American Theater. Their goal, individually and collectively, is to center historically marginalized artists and audiences in all facets of their work while developing new models for artistic production, audience building, community engagement, new play development, and organizational leadership. Support from the Mellon Foundation will allow the cohort to better sustain their companies, as well as benefit from peer mentorship and collective learning through regular gatherings, in order to continue innovating strategies that can be replicated by the national field.
Each cohort member will focus their work on a unique area of expertise and exploration:
Cleveland Public Theatre: Deep interconnectivity between communities served and the art on stage
Company One Theatre: Neighborhood Activation & Production in Civic Spaces, entirely with free and Pay What You Want ticketing
Crowded Fire Theater: Radical Shared Leadership
Mosaic Theater Company: Equitable New Work Development Practices
Perseverance Theatre: Decolonizing for Right-Purposed/Relations with Alaska Natives and all Native/Indigenous Peoples for Collective Liberation
Across their respective geographies and leadership structures, the organizations in this cohort have already begun collective exploration and peer mentorship with the common goal of building more equitable ecologies within their communities that prioritize fair wages for artists and staff, while deepening reciprocal local and national relationships.
"Each organization in this cohort has demonstrated local and national leadership capabilities through coalition-building and their practice of abundant collectivism,” said Stephanie Ybarra, program officer for Arts and Culture at the Mellon Foundation, “The close collaborations on behalf of communities and the larger theater ecosystem is thrilling to see, and we're proud to be in partnership with them as they do this important work."
“The history of the regional theatre movement is founded on an idea that community theatre is amateur, creating an inherent divide between theatres that are community centered and those that are “professional. In this time of reckoning what drew us to this cohort was the incredible professionalism of each company and their profound sense of community and their work that is truly connected to the public! In the short time we have been together the cohort gatherings have proven to be a place of innovation and inspiration, and I can’t wait to see how Cleveland, the theatre field, and the nation will be changed by the fundamental work of this grant.” Raymond Bobgan, Executive Artistic Director, Cleveland Public Theatre
"Company One Theatre is grateful for support from the Mellon foundation. As an organization built on community and deeply collaborative relationships, we believe the future of the field is rooted in our theaters' abilities to collaborate in new and innovative ways. The future of the American Theater also requires a new positioning with the public, one that eliminates elitist notions that the non-profit theatre is created mostly for the white and privileged. Instead, the theatre will benefit from being redefined as a new form of public art, eliminating systemically problematic subscription models and ticket prices, in favor of community building with an audience that truly represents the cities where we make our work. The content of this new theatre will inherently provide truly diverse audiences an opportunity for connection, reflection and for the theatrical work to serve as a powerful tool for social change." -Shawn LaCount, Karthik Subramanian, & Summer L. Williams, Company One Theatre Leadership
“When Crowded Fire envisions the future of American theater, it is interconnected, values-led, vibrant, and THRIVING! This generous grant is a huge step towards realizing that radical vision, and we are so grateful to the Mellon Foundation for their support and investment in culture-shifting on both the regional and national scale. With these funds, we are excited to continue to evolve our new shared leadership model, focusing on sustainability for our staff, artists, and organization as a whole, while also cultivating relationships with some of the most inspiring companies across the country as part of this innovative cohort of leaders.” — Riley Alyson, Caro Asercion, Nailah Harper-Malveaux, Julie McCormick, & Leigh Rondon-Davis, Shared Leadership Team, Crowded Fire Theater
“It is an honor to receive this remarkable support from the Mellon Foundation and to be in community with this cohort of inspiring leaders and peer theaters. At a time when our field is feeling the pressure to shrink, the Mellon Foundation’s support provides profound encouragement for us to remain unwavering in our commitment to reflecting the diversity of Washington DC on our stage and beyond. We look forward to continuing to center new work and a wide range of storytellers at the core of our vision and are so grateful to the Foundation and the cohort’s collaboration in this important aim.” - Reginald L. Douglas, Artistic Director, Mosaic Theater Company
“We at Perseverance Theater are profoundly moved and grateful to be and feel seen by the Mellon Foundation. This significant support offers the opportunity to continue our work in-community with this brilliant cohort of theater visionaries-change-makers. We are excited for the explorations that will continue to bring forth iterative creative and structural changes to deepen our work and collaborations with Alaska Natives and BIPOC communities of Alaska and the entire theater sector. We strive to contribute learnings for a more just and sustainable theater ecology that will also support the collective liberation, and therefore, the health and wellbeing of our communities.” – Leslie Ishii, Artistic Director, Perseverance Theatre, on the sacred homelands of the A’akw Kwáan on Tlingít Aaní and the Dena’ina on Dena’ ina Ełnena.
ABOUT THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at www.mellon.org
View the Press Kit for our current show
Mosaic Artistic Director Reginald l. Douglas
announces mosaic’s 2022/23 season
Mosaic is proud to announce its compelling 2022/23 Season, the first season selected and planned by Mosaic’s new Artistic Director, Reginald L. Douglas.
The inspiring lineup aims to spark conversation across DC with a series of productions and special events that engage artists and community members around issues of and for the moment. “At Mosaic, we believe that theater at its best can be a catalyst for conversation and community building, and this season wonderfully carries forth that vision,” Douglas said. “It is my honor to build upon Mosaic’s foundation of producing theater that connects across cultures with this season of new work at all stages of development – from new play readings to world and DC premiere productions – all created by a diverse cadre of bold theater makers. This next chapter for Mosaic Theater centers our core values of artistic excellence, empathy onstage and off, and joy, and celebrates theater’s unique ability to bring people together in conversation and collaboration. We cannot wait to welcome audiences to participate in this inspiring new journey with us.”
Mosaic Names New Artistic Director - reginald l. Douglas:
The new artistic director and self-described 'new play development junkie' talks candidly about 'producing from a spirit of joy.' - DC Metro Theater Arts
The new artistic director emphasizes creative collaboration and community development in his vision for the future. - American Theatre Magazine
Reginald L. Douglas is appointed artistic director of Mosaic Theater Company - The Washington Post
Reginald L. Douglas becomes one of the few Blacks in the nation to helm a professional, regional theater company. - Port of Harlem Magazine
Reginald Douglas: Back Home + On the Move - District Fray Magazine