National Theater Project Creation & Touring Grant

PLEASE NOTE: The final NTP Creation & Touring Grant cycle in its current form opened September 6, 2024. The deadline for the preliminary application is Thursday, October 17, 2024, at 1:59 EDT (was October 10, 2024, at 11:59pm EDT). To learn more, please read a letter to the field from NEFA’s Executive Director, Harold Steward.

About the National Theater Project Grant Program

Visit the National Theater Project Program page to learn more about the final year of this grant program and its Advisors.

To learn more about the final NDP Production Grant cycle, please read a letter to the field from NEFA’s Executive Director, Harold Steward.

read the letter

Eligibility 

• The National Theater Project will consider projects submitted by U.S.*-based theater ensembles. Only one application per ensemble or lead artist will be accepted per year. See “Funding Criteria” for definition of ensemble for the purposes of this grant.
• Ensembles must have nonprofit status or a contract with a nonprofit fiscal agent by the final application deadline.
• This grant supports the creation of new work. To ensure that the project is still in development at the time the grant is awarded, projects must be in development through at least September 1, 2025.
• This grant supports the sharing of new work across multiple communities, groups, and audiences within the U.S. To ensure this grant supports the sharing of new work, projects must be ready to tour by May 31, 2026. See “Funding Criteria” for definition of tour/touring and tour ready for the purpose of this grant.
• All projects must have one committed, U.S.-based development  partner relationship.**
• Returning Artists: All NTP-supported presentations are completed and it has been one year since the last NTP-supported presentation.
• Applicant must be able to fulfill the Requirements & Reports for Grant Recipients if awarded. 

Theater artists apply to receive $110,000 in funds to support both the development and U.S. touring [see: “Funding Criteria”] of artist-led, ensemble, devised theater projects. Grants support the development of the project, costs and incentives needed to establish a plan for touring, and the tour itself.  This support will come in the form of three direct payments to grantees: $50,000k at the time of contract signing; a $30,000k interim payment; and a $30,000k final payment. See “Requirements & Reports for Grant Recipients” for detailed reporting and allocation schedule.

*NEFA defines U.S. as all 50 of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia. 

** Development partners provide a variety of resources during the development of a work including, but not limited to, residency space, virtual platforms, audience for work-in-progress showings, administrative guidance or support, marketplace advocacy, tour planning assistance, community connections, cultural support and grounding, and building connections between artists and the communities the work is with and for. Examples of development partners include but are not limited to, universities, community organizations, cultural centers, advocacy groups, museums, and presenting theaters. It is understood that the need and level of assistance between development partners and artists varies from artist to artist, but NTP believes strongly that partnerships greatly benefit the development and distribution of devised, ensemble theater..

Projects Not Supported

• Projects focused solely on children’s and family theater
• Projects by individual artists
• Projects developed by lead artists who are non-U.S. based
• Projects that do not meet NEFA’s definition of U.S. based or NTP’s definitions of devised, ensemble, tour/touring [see: “Funding Criteria”]

Funding Criteria

NEFA’s values statements regarding Equity, Diversity, Intersectionality, and Accessibility informs National Theater Project Programs, including the Creation & Touring Grant selection process: 

“NEFA values an equitable, diverse, and inclusive world, which we interpret as all people having fair access to the tools and resources they need to realize creative and community endeavors. We acknowledge structural inequities that have excluded individuals and communities from opportunity based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, class, age, language, culture, and geography, and strive to counter those inequities in our work.” 

We acknowledge that throughout NTP’s 13+ years of grant making history, at times our processes may have resulted in exclusion, and we are actively and continuously seeking pathways to mitigate harm. NTP is committed to disrupting the perpetual exclusion and erasure of artists representing forms, genres, practices, traditions, lineages, experiences, and/or identities through their projects that have historically been structurally suppressed, marginalized, or invisibilized. We value how artists are choosing to advance, enhance, or subvert various forms of theater, contributing to the ever-evolving landscape. We believe in the right of the artists to self-determine the value of their work, including defining success for themselves. 

As the landscape continues to change, we continue to listen and to deepen and evolve our practices. We remain committed to supporting all participants in the devised ensemble theater community on and offstage - artists, presenters, and community.

National Theater Project Creation & Touring Grants: 

• Support the creation/development and U.S.* touring of new artist-led devised, ensemble theater works that demonstrates excellence as defined by the artists’ practice. NTP uses the following definitions in consideration of grant applications:
  • Ensemble: A group of two or more people committed to working together over time to develop a distinct practice and body of work.
  • Devised: A process of co-creation and joint discovery that prioritizes generative artists, which may include but does not prioritize playwrights or directors, is iterative, and results in original work.
  • Tour/Touring: Sharing of the work in multiple communities, locations, or formats, including in-person performance, virtual performance, or hybrid modalities.
    • A tour ready work is defined as one ready to be shared outside of the community the work has been generated in/by.
• Support work that contributes to the cultural, aesthetic, and form-diversities of today’s theater. Why this project? Why this ensemble? Why now?
• Demonstrate meaningful partnerships with organizations that are involved in the development, performance, promotion, engagement, and/or touring of the new work [see “Eligibility” for definition of development partner.]
• Center engagement with/for communities and audiences via the work’s process and performance.
• Demonstrate a commitment to sharing the work with communities in the U.S. via tour [see above for NTP’s definition of tour/touring and “Eligibility” for definition of U.S.]

Preference Is Given To:

• Ensembles that have not received Creation & Touring funding within the last five NTP Creation & Touring cycles.
• Projects with at least one interested presenting partner.*  

* A presenting partner is the operator of a virtual platform or in-person venue that offers the work to an audience, including but not limited to U.S. arts spaces, presenting organizations, producing theaters that also present touring productions, and festivals.

Deadlines

Preliminary Round

• September 6, 2024: NTP Creation & Touring Grant preliminary application available.
• October 17, 2024, 11:59PM Eastern: NTP Creation & Touring Grant preliminary application deadline.
• December 2024: Applicants are notified of first round decisions. The top 60 projects will advance as semi-finalists. All applicants will be notified at this time whether their project is advancing. Note: there is no action required of semi-finalists.
• January 2025: Semi-finalists are notified of preliminary panel meeting decisions. 14 Finalists are invited to submit in the final proposal round and are paired with a NTP advisor who serves as the project's advisor during full proposal development. All semi-finalists will be notified whether their project is advancing.

Full Proposal Round

• March 3, 2025, 11:59PM Eastern: NTP Creation & Touring Grant final application deadline.

Full Proposal Process for Finalists

Useful Information to know if your NTP Inquiry proposal moves to the Finalist (Full Proposal) round.

• All eligible applicants are notified by the end of January if their project has moved forward to the Finalist round. Finalists are announced publicly on NEFA’s blog.
• Any finalists who do not receive one of the ten Creation and Touring Grants will receive an Artist Development Grant. These small grants offer development support of $10,000 to projects reviewed in the final application round who were not ultimately selected for a Creation and Touring Grant. Grantees have used the support for operational costs, the creation of better work samples, construction of crucial set elements, dramaturgical assistance, and the creation of workshop opportunities to generate interest in the project.
• Finalists will be paired with a NTP Advisor who will help in preparing the final proposal; this assistance may include discussion of the project and new developments, reading narrative answers, budget, and work sample feedback. Advisors will present the full application at the final panel meeting in April. NEFA staff is also available and ready to work with you on your proposal development and answer any questions about the form or process.
• The Full Proposal form asks for a five-minute work sample (Vimeo or Google Drive with downloadable capabilities). This can include up to three selections of at least one minute in length but should not be a promotional video. NTP staff can provide guidance on this.
• All applicant organizations are required to provide an IRS W-9 Form (see www.irs.gov for current version) and a SAM UEI in the application. Applicants who are applying with a Fiscal Sponsor or plan to receive payment through a Fiscal Sponsor should provide a W-9 from their Fiscal Sponsor. Individual applicants are not required to provide a SAM UEI.
• The invited final proposal is due on March 3, 2025, by 11:59PM Eastern. All applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision by the end of May.
• Participation in the cohort meeting, which will take place in October 2025, is required. Cohort meeting location to be determined.
• NTP staff will be available during the application process to answer your questions, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET Mon-Thu.

Requirements & Reports for Grant Recipients

Requirements

Participation in the cohort meeting, which will take place in October 2025, is required. Cohort meeting location to be determined.

Grant disbursement is made in three parts:

1. Upon receipt of signed contract agreements: NEFA will issue $50,000 to the artist or the artist’s fiscal sponsor. Requirements for payment:
   1. Signed NTP Creation & Touring grant agreement (signed digitally by the artist, NEFA leadership, and artist’s fiscal sponsor if applicable)
2. Following completion of the interim report at the cohort meeting: NEFA will issue $30,000 to the artist or artist’s fiscal sponsor. Requirements for payment:
   1. Creation & Touring Interim Report (completed with NTP staff during the cohort meeting)
   2. Copies of publicity materials showing required crediting (if applicable).
   3. Hi-res photos of the work in progress (if available).
3. Final payment will be issued at the end of the grant cycle, June 3, 2026. Requirements for payment:
   1. Creation & Touring Grant Evaluation (completed and submitted online).
   2. Copies of program and publicity materials showing required crediting.
   3. Video recording of the work (if available).
   4. (Strongly Encouraged) Hi-res photos of the NTP-funded engagement.

Reports

Click below to log in and begin your grantee report. You may save and return at any time.

BEGIN YOUR GRANT REPORT

Key Definitions

• U.S./U.S.-based: NEFA defines U.S. as all 50 of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia.
• Ensemble: A group of two or more people committed to working together over time to develop a distinct practice and body of work.
• Devised: A process of co-creation and joint discovery that prioritizes generative artists, which may include but does not prioritize playwrights or directors, is iterative, and results in original work.
• Tour/Touring: Sharing of the work in multiple communities, locations, or formats, including in-person performance, virtual performance, or hybrid modalities.
  • A tour ready work is defined as one ready to be shared outside of the community the work has been generated in/by.
• Development partners: provide a variety of resources during the development of a work including, but not limited to, residency space, virtual platforms, audience for work-in-progress showings, administrative guidance or support, marketplace advocacy, tour planning assistance, community connections, cultural support and grounding, and building connections between artists and the communities the work is with and for. Examples of development partners include but are not limited to universities, community organizations, cultural centers, advocacy groups, museums, and presenting theaters.
• Presenting partner: the operator of a virtual platform or in-person venue that offers the work to an audience, including but not limited to U.S. arts spaces, presenting organizations, producing theaters that also present touring productions, and festivals.
• Semi-finalist: The 60 preliminary applications with the highest scores following Advisors initial written scoring. These projects will advance to live discussion in the preliminary panel meeting.
• Finalist: The 24 preliminary applications selected from within the 60 semi-finalists to advance to the final panel meeting. These projects will be invited to submit a final application [see: “Full Proposal Process for Finalists”] and paired with an Advisor.

Watch the info session (above) or read the NTP info session transcript