SARTA Awards First Two Microgrants!
Happy Hour Theatre Company and Strong Eye Productions Receive First Two SARTA Microgrants
For the first time in its 40-year history, SARTA has awarded two $500 microgrants to small community theatre groups. SARTA created the Microgrant program to encourage small, local theatres and individuals to produce new works, and funds can be used for rights, costumes, props, etc. At SARTA, we are continually working on new ways to support the community we love!
Our first recipient, Happy Hour Theatre Group, is the brainchild of Christi van Eyken and Shana Kehoe. The company was created to help theatre artists grow, explore, and take on new challenges. With hour-long collections of short plays (“Happy Hours”), they create cohesive and impactful productions that balance of humor, emotion, and a bit (or a lot) of weirdness. These short pieces give actors the chance to push their boundaries in small but challenging roles and offer valuable opportunities to brand new or up-and-coming directors, designers, and stage managers.
Currently, Happy Hour is finishing a Shakespeare summer workshop with the incredible Janis Stevens, and also offer "The Playwright's Village" - a program where playwrights can work with the team at Happy Hour to host a small staged reading of their work with the intention of receiving feedback. The program is open on a rolling basis and is an excellent opportunity for writers to receive assistance in play development.
We are delighted to support Happy Hour Theatre Group in their work, and hope that our small contribution can aid them in supporting more enthusiastic members of the theatre community!
Our second recipient is Strong Eye Productions, which recently completed a run of "Mine For The Tribe - An Artist Versus His Brain" by Chris Smith. This one-person show delves into the ups and downs of artistic temperament and combines personal stories and learned wisdom to find hope for artists.
Chris plans to use the microgrant funds to bring his show to other venues in the area, as well as to the classroom. Hopefully we'll get more chances to see this insightful one-person performance!
If you want to know more about our Microgrants program, check out the page for information and to apply. If you'd like to support SARTA, there are many ways to do so! Consider becoming a member of our organization, or volunteering to help us organize more events!
Congrats again to our Microgrant recipients! We hope to award more grants in the future.
