Purpose

AGE is proud to announce the launch of its 2022 initiative, the AGE Legacy Playwright Grants (ALP)! In continuing the commitment to the social justice arts movement, AGE Founder, Jane Mantiri has launched the ALP Grant to continue the AGE legacy of investing in artists who have been underrepresented and underserved. Plays produced and directed by women on Broadway and national theatre companies are rare, and this lack of representation negatively impacts BIPOC women and nonbinary artists even more. American Theatre has to do better. Our solution? Invest in those telling the stories.

AGE seeks to change the equity landscape of the American Theatre canon by increasing the representation of women and nonbinary BIPOC playwrights 40+ years of age. Three playwrights will receive individual unrestricted grants of $10,000 each. We are intentionally making our grant funding to BIPOC women and nonbinary playwrights unrestricted. When funders dictate how grant money is used and require complex systems of documentation, oversight, and conditions, it can disempower the recipient. Shared power is a core value for AGE. We are mindful of the layered history of oppression, trauma, and disempowerment for BIPOC women and nonbinary people. Thus, we set out to create an initiative that amplifies the integrity of the recipients. 

For AGE, equity means creating environments where everyone can achieve their goals. Giving agency to the recipients is how we practice equity. The recipients will determine the course of their professional journey and we are honored to witness and invest in their success.

Award

$10,000 Unrestricted

Application Window

March 7, 2022 – April 1, 2022

AGE is committed to curating the AGE Legacy Playwright grants program within the limits of our resources. Therefore, we will only be accepting the first 100 applications.

REcipients Notified

June 2022

View 2022 Recipients here!

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Identify as BIPOC
• Identify as a woman or nonbinary individual
• 40+ years or older
• Emerging means that the playwright has had no more than one play fully produced in one or more  professional theatre(s). Readings and workshop productions are exempt.
• Have an original draft of a full length play completed at the time of application; the script has to have at least one principal character who is a woman or nonbinary BIPOC person, 40+ years of age.
• Live and work in the United States or Puerto Rico and are able to submit a W9 if chosen as a finalist.

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Applicant meets eligibility criteria.
• Applicant submits all materials and information within the timeframe of the ALP grant submission and review process.
• Applicant demonstrates a strong desire to achieve success as a playwright, and to change the equity landscape of American theatre.
• Applicants will submit a draft of their full script, and additionally submit the specific 10 pages they want reviewed in the first stage of reviews.
• Applicants are reviewed on their motivation, commitment, and dedication as a playwright to impact the equity landscape of American theatre. The focus of the review is on the artist more than the play, knowing that their writing is one of many drafts and efforts yet to be birthed in their playwriting career.