National Theater Project Awards $540K to Artists, Ensembles, and Community Partners

Since 2010, NEFA’s National Theater Project (NTP) has been a critical means of support for artist-led, ensemble, and devised theater work. The program has done this through direct funding while cultivating an informed, interactive ecosystem of ensembles, artists, and presenters. To date, NTP has infused more than $19.3 million into the field, and because the program requires a minimum of two artists to be eligible and supports an average of six members per ensemble, more than 2,000 artists have been supported across NTP’s core grantmaking portfolio.

While NTP's impact continues to permeate field-wide, recent philanthropic shifts have necessitated the conclusion of NTP in its current form. Thus, we have begun to wind down the program. Over the last year, we continued to steward all grant funds in alignment with NEFA’s mission, vision, values and NTP’s core spirit of collaboration and innovation. So far, we have awarded our final Creation and Touring Grants, Transition Grants, Travel Grants, and Artist Development Grants. While our grantees are completing their NTP-supported sharing activities, the impacts of their community engagements persist. This includes 119 new works of artist-led, collaborative, ensemble, and devised theater reaching audiences in 44 states, Washington D.C., across both the Atlantic and Pacific territories, and even the moon.

Reflection and Responsible Stewardship 

So, how do you gratefully and gracefully end a program that has made a difference for so many?

When program manager Leilani Ricardo and I sat down to devise our last year, we focused on what would be meaningful for a program that is: 

• founded on ensemble artists and ensemble decision-making; 
• committed to participatory grantmaking in the field; and 
• centers both equity and generosity.

In addition, we wanted to experiment with community grantmaking and felt this third act moment for NTP would provide a great opportunity to generate joy and amplify discovery through our process. These reflections guided our decision to build our final year of programming on three elements – community grantmaking, active conversation, and fortifying the field. Some of you have already encountered Leilani facilitating listening/learning sessions with NTP communities and ensembles across the country; please stay tuned for future conversations!

The process of identifying community grantmaking, active conversation, and fortifying the field also sparked what we’re announcing today: the National Theater Project (NTP) Sunset Grants! 

Community Grantmaking Process

To celebrate 15 years of NTP grantmaking, we asked our family of artists and Advisors to nominate 60 grantees to receive unsolicited and unrestricted $9,000 grants. These nominators were recruited from across each NTP cohort with 30 Advisors and artists from 30 NTP Creation and Touring supported ensembles invited to participate. Nominators were required to keep their participation in the process confidential, including from each other, and asked to elevate artists, ensembles, and/or organizations that aligned with one of the following NTP Tracks:

• Track 1
  Ensembles and artists who manifest theater as social impact, theater as ancestral/decolonial practice, theater as medicinal, theater that defies genre/classification, and/or theater + technology. Nominations were provided by 30 NTP Advisors, for a total of 30 Track 1 nominees.
• Track 2 
  Artists and ensembles that are devised theater makers, touring ensembles, intergenerational in practice, or specialize in artists im/mobility (non-conventional sharing of work, i.e. sharing work from behind bars, mixed citizenship ensembles, disability praxis while touring). Nominations were provided by 15 NTP Creation and Touring grantees, for a total of 15 Track 2 nominees.
• Track 3 
  Development Partner, and/or Presenter Partners who exemplify the spirit and goals of NTP and have a demonstrable commitment to bridging community and performance, commitment to meeting artists’ needs, and/or working in deep collaborative community.  Nominations were provided by 15 NTP Creation and Touring grantees, for a total of 15 Track 3 nominees.

2026 National Theater Project Grantees 

NEFA staff are happy to uplift the following artists, ensembles, culture bearers, and partners who exemplify the spirit and goals of NTP while demonstrating excellence as identified by a community of peers, colleagues, and leaders in our field. Please join us in congratulating these grantees!

NTP Track 1 Grantees 

• The Movement Theatre Company – New York City, NY 

• Critical Mass Performance Group – Los Angeles, CA 

• THE HAWTPLATES – Bronx, NY 

• Denmo Ibrahim – Stevens Point, WI 

• Erika Chong Shuch - Berkley, CA 

• Rising Youth Theatre – Phoenix, AZ 

• Safe Harbors – New York City, NY 

• Clyde Petersen – Anacortes, WA 

• Mondo Bizarro Productions – New Orleans, LA 

• Breaking Wave Theatre Company - MongMong-Toto-Maite, GU 

• Nile Harris – Brooklyn, NY 

• paris cian – New Orleans, LA 

• Indigenous Peoples Task Force: Ikidowin Acting Ensemble – Minneapolis, MN 

• Xhole and Natasha – Brooklyn, NY 

• Raven Cassell – Sicklerville, NJ 

• Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi – Washington, DC 

• Front Porch Arts Collective – Boston, MA 

• Dahlak Brathwaite – Brooklyn, NY 

• Rayne – Philadelphia, PA 

• Kambara+ – San Francisco, CA 

• Rebecca Martinez – New York City, NY 

• Calling Up Justice – Richmond, CA 

• Maria Hendricks – New Bedford, MA 

• Martha Redbone – Brooklyn, NY 

• Junebug Productions – New Orleans, LA 

• Dorchester Weather Theatre Ensemble – Boston, MA 

• Clear Creek Creative – Bighill, KY 

• Ty Defoe – Brooklyn, NY 

• SOZO Impact – New York, NY and Oakland, CA 

• The Civilians – Brooklyn, NY 

NTP Track 2 Grantees 

• Storme Webber – Cleveland, OH 

• Honolulu Theatre for Youth – Honolulu, HI 

• TeAda Productions – Los Angeles, CA 

• Lisa Fagan + Lena Engelstein – Brooklyn, NY 

• Denmo Ibrahim – Stevens Point, WI 

• Dan Hurlin – New York, NY 

• Modesto Flako Jimenez – Brooklyn, NY 

• Kiki Rivera – Lakewood, CA 

• Florinda Bryant – Austin, TX 

• James Caverly & Andrew Morrill – New York City, NY 

• Teo Castellanos D-PROJECTS - Miami, FL 

• Meena Malik and Aristides Rivas – Torrance, CA 

• Daniel Banks/DNAWORKS - New York, NY 

• Rudi Goblen – North Hollywood, CA 

• Junebug Productions – New Orleans, LA 

NTP Track 3 Grantees 

• Torn Space Theater – Buffalo, NY 

• Bregamos Community Theatre – New Haven, CT 

• National Black Theatre (NBT) - New York City, NY 

• Golden Thread Productions – San Francsisco, CA 

• Target Margin Theater – Brooklyn, NY 

• Native Performing Arts Network – Portland, OR 

• Arab American National Museum – Dearborn, MI 

• Pangea World Theater – Minneapolis, MN 

• CPR – Center for Performance Research – Brooklyn, NY 

• ArtsEmerson – Boston, MA 

• The Movement Theatre Company – New York, NY 

• Mondo Bizarro Productions – New Orleans, LA 

• Bunnell Street Arts Center – Homer, AK 

• New York Theatre Workshop – New York, NY 

• Live Arts Miami – Miami, FL 

The Third Act – Celebration, Conversation, Evolution 

Over the next few months, NTP will be highlighting both awardees of this process and specific nominators across NEFA platforms. All of the nominees, whether known previously to NTP or not, are artists and organizations that are deserving of support and recognition, and we hope you will join us in celebrating them and paying particular attention to their work.

Beyond that, we are exploring ways to fortify the field in preparation for the evolution of NEFA’s national grantmaking portfolio and field-building services. Read more about the upcoming process from our Deputy Director of National Program Strategy, Indira Goodwine-Josias.

To close, we want to thank the dozens of NTP community members who participated in the nomination and selection process, many of whom chose to act anonymously. What a phenomenal ensemble to devise with you!

Mutawi táputni, many thanks, and keep an eye out for what comes next!