The Children's Theater Foundation of America

Recent Recipients

CTFA awarded the following grants and fellowships:

Founders Grants 2007

(Average Award: $1,700)

ASSITEJ/USA, to assist in the funding of one or more graduate students or early career professionals to attend ASSITEJ in Australia and to represent the US in the NEXT GENERATION PROJECT.

Oregon Children’s Theatre, Portland Oregon, for script development of Lois Lowry’s youth novel, GOSSAMER, to be co-produced in the following year by Oregon Children’s Theatre and First Stage of Milwaukee.

Jeanne Klein, Lawrence Kansas, to support research and writing of a book explaining how children formulate aesthetic judgments about theatre from early-middle childhood.

Here Arts Center of New York, to support an international festival featuring Dutch and French productions for young audiences.

Aurand Harris Grants 2007

(Average Award: $2,500)

Metro Theatre Company, St. Louis, MO, to support 2 staged readings of a developing script inspired by Moby Dick. $2,000.

Pollyanna Theatre Co., Austin, TX, for commissioning and actor fees for premier of DUCKLING SEES THE WORLD. $2,500.

Savannah Children’s Theatre Inc., Savannah, Georgia, to fund essential technical theatre equipment. $3,000.

Aurand Harris Fellowship 2007

Larissa Fasthorse, To complete development of a new play, TEACHING DISCO SQUARE DANCING TO OUR ELDERS: A CLASS PRESNETATION, with a 2 day choreography workshop to develop movement language. $1,000.

Founders Grants 2006

(Award: $700)

AATE Playwriting Network to support seven long-distance apprenticeships to secondary playwriting students with adult playwright in the field. Students will receive written feedback on their plays by correspondence. The student work and the process to develop it will be presented in a session at the 2007 AATE conference.

Aurand Harris Grants 2006

(Average Award: $1,900)

The Open Eye Theatre, Margaretville, New York to produce a series of four Bear Bones workshop productions of new plays for young audiences and families - plays calling for young actors and adults in the cast.

The Marsh Youth Theatre, San Francisco, California to commission and perform an original musical piece entitled Siddhartha, The Bright Path. Siddhartha will be set with Indian music and dance by artists with cultural experience.

Aurand Harris Fellowship 2006

(Average Award: $1,000)

Dan Fenton to support research and the writing of a play based on the exploitation of the Amazon Rainforest.

Jon Klein and Laura Shamas, to support the writing and development of a contemporary holiday play for the whole family.

Founders Grants 2005

(average award: $1,750)

ASSITEJ/OSA to fund travel subsidies for graduate students and early career professionals and an Intern Mentor to attend the 15th World Congress and Performing Arts Festival of ASSITEJ International IN Montreal, Canada from September 20-30, 2005.

Arizona State University Department of Archives and Special Collections to create transcripts of the Child Drama Collection’s audio and video oral histories of leaders in the field and to provide access points to them on the web.

The Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis to support the development and production of a new play for teen audiences, Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka.

Seattle Children’s Theatre in support of the world premier of Robert Schenkkan’s The Devil and Daniel Webster

Oregon Children’s Theatre in support of playwright Eric Coble, playwright for the adaptation of The Giver and its premier production.

Aurand Harris Grants 2005

(average award: $1,042)

Metro Theatre Company to help support the production and local/regional tour of Stix and Stonz, a new play by Nicholas Kryah that explores the exercise of power and the dynamics of prejudice.

Prime Stage Theatre to support a program integrating theatre and literature, “Connect Kids to Classics.”

Youth Theatre at the University of Salt Lake toward travel costs and related expenses to bring playwright Sandra Asher to Utah for development workshops and rehearsal/performance of a new play.

Theatre del Pueblo of St. Paul toward commission and production expenses for a new play dealing with current Latino issues to be used as the capstone of their bi-lingual Literacy Through Theater residencies.

Aurand Harris Fellowships 2005

(average award: $750)

Ric Averill, Lawrence KS, in support of his work on two new plays

Christopher Browne Malik, Eutaw, AL, in support of the creation of an interactive Rap and verse play for teens about a school conflict that ends in violence, after which the teen audience, improvising with actors, is challenged to reconstruct a non-violent outcome.

Alisa Weinstein, Williamsville, NY in support of a ten month long residency in New Delhi, India with the National School of Drama’s Theatre-in-Education Company, Sanskaar Rang Toli, a professional adult repertory performing plays and conducting workshops for children.

Founders Grants 2004

(average award: $4,250)

AATE Playwriting Network for support of three secondary theatre teachers who are committed to developing new works in their schools with the opportunity to observe and participate in the development of a script at one of three development venues.

The Indiana Repertory Theatre in support of the Bonderman Playwriting Project in its transition from the sponsorship of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis to the Indiana Repertory Theatre.

Aurand Harris Grants 2004

(average award: $3,000)

The Children’s Theatre Company of Sioux Falls, SD for partial support of playwright Wesley Middleton to participate in rehearsals and performance of “Emperor Incorporated.”

Edgefest, Los Angeles, toward expenses to develop and produce a program to assist Los Angeles based theatre companies develop original one-act plays targeted to children ages 5-15 and their families.

Theatre Building of Chicago in support of “The One-Acts Project” involving the creation and production of two original musicals for children ages 3-6.

Aurand Harris Fellowship 2004

(award: $3,000)

Max Bush to support artistic development through work on plays designed for high school age audiences.