Funding available for Ontario playwrights through 4th Line Theatre

If you’re an professional theatre artist in Ontario looking for funding to create a new theatrical work, 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook may be able to help you.

Once again the year, 4th Line Theatre is one of the recommenders of the Theatre Creators’ Reserve program.

A program of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), the Theatre Creators’ Reserve provide funds to Ontario-based professional theatre artists (or informal collectives) who wish to develop new work.

Fifty-five theatre companies across Ontario — including 4th Line Theatre — act as third-party recommenders for the program. Recommenders receive applications directly from creators and forward grant recommendations to OAC.

Funding of between $1,000 and $5,000 is available through the program.

“As an artist, I understand the financial challenges faced by playwrights,” says Kim Blackwell, Managing Artistic Director at 4th Line Theatre. “The OAC’s Creators’ Reserve program is vital to the development of new plays.”

As one of the program’s third-party recommenders, 4th Line Theatre plans to support as many worthy regional playwriting projects as possible. The theatre company will also be looking for projects that align with its artistic mandate to preserve Canadian culture through historical dramas.

Past recipients of program funding as recommended by 4th Line Theatre include:

• Maya Ardal, whose play The Hero of Hunter Street will have its world premiere at the opening of 4th Line Theatre’s 25th anniversary season in 2016. The play tells the story of the December 1916 Quaker Oats factory explosion and fire in Peterborough that killed 23 men and irrevocably changed the lives of local families.
• Alex Poch-Goldin, who wrote this year’s wildly popular play The Bad Luck Bank Robbers at 4th Line Theatre, about the 1961 bank robbery in Havelock. 4th Line Theatre will be remounting the play in 2016.
• Peterborough’s own Beau Dixon, for a play under development.

Application forms for the Theatre Creators’ Reserve program are available from the OAC by calling 1-800-387-0058, by emailing info@arts.on.ca, or by visiting the OAC Theatre Creators’ Reserve website at www.arts.on.ca.

To be considered for recommendation, eligible theatre professionals must complete the application forms and mail them to 4th Line Theatre (PO Box 403, Millbrook ON, L0A 1G0) no later than Saturday, January 16th, 2016. The forms must be accompanied by a description of the project proposed, the artist’s resume, and a sample of past work.

Founder and Creative Director Robert Winslow and Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell will review the applications, basing their decisions on the artistic interest of the project, the quality of writing samples, and the impact of the program on the artist’s development.

The actual grant amounts to be provided will be determined by the number of approved applicants and the funds available from the Theatre Creators’ Reserve program.

For more information about 4th Line Theatre, visit www.4thlinetheatre.on.ca.

All photos courtesy of 4th Line Theatre.