Apply for Theatre Project Award – Ireland

Objectives and Priorities of the Award

The Theatre Project Award is offered across four strands, as follows:

• Strand 1: Play Development
  • The objective of the Play Development strand is to enable the development of a new play or text for performance, in which the playwright is central to the creative process. This could be an application by the playwright themselves or an application by a third party who proposes to commission and support the development of the new play text for performance.
    • Priority will be given to proposals that:
      • Seek to write a new play or text for performance and
      • Can demonstrate excellence, innovation and/or experimentation and/or
      • Work in collaboration with more than one creative artist as part of the play-development process and/or
      • Seek to develop new and innovative concepts for productions of new dramatic material and
      • Can demonstrate their feasibility by providing evidence of:
        • Realistic timelines and budgets
        • Appropriate pay for all artists, including collaborators where relevant to your proposal
        • Financial and/or in-kind supports from other sources where relevant to your proposal.
• Strand 2: Theatre Creation
  • The objective of the Theatre Creation strand is to enable the devising of ideas for new work in a collaborative and interdisciplinary context where the playwright may or may not be the centre of the process. The emphasis of the award is on innovation and experimentation. The concept behind a proposal can be non-text-based or based on a piece of new writing for the theatre, a pre-existing dramatic text, an adaptation from another literary form, or a translation or adaptation of a text from another language. The objective of the award is to enable the development of ideas over time through collaboration without the requirement to present to audiences.
    • Priority will be given to proposals that:
      • Seek to break new ground through innovation and experimentation and/or
      • Seek to develop new forms of theatre through the collaboration of more than one creative artist, which is distinct from, and additional to, the usual collaboration between a lead artist (usually a writer or director) and performers in a rehearsal room and/or
      • Demonstrate ambition and excellence in the quality of dramaturgical support and/or collaboration proposed and/or
      • Seek to develop new and innovative concepts for productions of preexisting dramatic material and
      • Can demonstrate their feasibility by providing evidence of:
        • Realistic timelines and budgets
        • Appropriate pay for all artists including collaborators
        • Financial and/or in-kind supports from other sources where relevant to your proposal.
• Strand 3: New Work Presentation
  • The objective of the New Work strand is the presentation of new theatre work to audiences. This can be the presentation of new plays by a single author, or innovative, collaborative and/or experimental work, or a new production of a pre-existing text. The concept behind a proposal can be a piece of new writing, a collaborative piece, non-text-based, a pre-existing dramatic text, an adaptation from another literary form, or a translation or adaptation of a text from another language.
    • Priority will be given to proposals that:
      • Seek to present artistically ambitious new theatre work to audiences, either written by a single playwright, created by a theatre maker, or developed through a process of collaboration and/or
      • Seek to present new work or existing repertoire in a new, innovative and/or experimental context and/or
      • Demonstrate ambition and excellence in the quality of proposed dramaturgical mentorship and/or collaboration and
      • Can demonstrate their feasibility by providing evidence of:
        • Realistic timelines and budgets
        • Realistic audience targets and income projections appropriate to the scale of the presentation
        • Appropriate pay for all artists, including collaborators
        • Financial and/or in-kind supports from other sources.
• Strand 4: Theatre Production
  • The objective of the Theatre Production strand is to enable the presentation of ambitious mid- to large-scale professional theatre productions by artists and/or producing entities with a demonstrable track record in the production of theatre for audiences on a nationwide basis.
  • The emphasis is on interpretations of pre-existing dramatic texts, although new plays, plays new to Irish audiences, and non-text-based projects will also be considered where an argument can be made for their appeal to potential audiences (e.g. where the applicant artist or writer has a strong track record for attracting audiences).
  • The focus of the award is on enabling the production of technically excellent and ambitious mid- to large-scale theatre in the context of either contemporary post-dramatic practice or the classical tradition (or a combination of the two), to attract and develop audiences for professional theatre throughout Ireland, and to offer good-quality employment opportunities to freelance theatre artists.
  • Priority will be given to proposals from established theatre artists/companies, or those in partnership with such entities, that:
    • Seek to present high-quality, technically excellent and artistically ambitious theatre to audiences in partnership with existing theatre and/or arts organisations, where that partnership is additional to, and separate from, that organisation’s core-funded activity and
    • Can demonstrate their feasibility by providing evidence of:
      • Realistic timelines and budgets
      • Realistic audience targets and income projections appropriate to the scale of the production
      • Appropriate pay for all artists, including collaborators
      • Financial and/or in-kind supports from other sources.

Funding Information

• The strand you apply under should match your proposal type as described above and be commensurate with the scale of your proposal. There are four bands of funding available. The amount denotes the maximum you can request under each strand – there is no minimum.
  • Strand 1: Play Development – Up to €15,000
  • Strand 2: Theatre Creation – Up to €26,000
  • Strand 3: Theatre Presentation – Up to €80,000
  • Strand 4: Theatre Production – Up to €175,000
• You may apply for support under only one strand of the award.
• In addition to the upper limits stated above, the Arts Council will also consider costs specifically relating to the making of work by artists with disabilities. If you wish to apply for additional funding on this basis, you should provide information with your application outlining what these additional costs are.

Eligibility Criteria

• The award is open to professional artists and organisations working in theatre.
• To be eligible to apply, applicants must:
  • Be resident or based in the Republic of Ireland. There are certain exceptions where the Arts Council may deem eligible applications made by those based outside the Republic of Ireland. However, before admitting as eligible any such application, the applicant would need to explicitly outline within the application how the outcomes of any such proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland, and the Arts Council must be satisfied with same.

Ineligibility Criteria

Applicants who cannot apply include the following:

• Organisations currently in receipt of funding under the following Arts Council programmes: Strategic Funding, Arts Centre Funding, Partnership Funding – though the involvement of such organisations as partners is welcome
• Organisations or individuals that have been awarded 2024 Arts Grant Funding
• Individuals who work on a full-time basis with organisations funded through any of the above programmes
• Entities or organisations managed, run, or beneficially owned by individuals who work full-time with Arts Council funded organisations
• Members of the Council of National Cultural Institutions directly funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
• Individuals or organisations that do not have a demonstrable track record as professional artists or organisations
• Individuals currently in undergraduate education (including those undertaking foundation courses) or who will be during the period for which this award is offered
• Individuals seeking support towards fees for postgraduate (including unaccredited)/higher education or study
• Notes:
  • You cannot apply for the award both as an individual and as part of an organisation – e.g. you cannot apply as the artistic director or core member of a company and also apply separately under your own name
  • Full-time employees of any Arts Council-funded organisation cannot be named as key artistic personnel in a Project Award application. The intention is that the Project award should support the work of artists not already in receipt of a salary through a funded organisation
  • Theatre artists wishing to make work primarily aimed at children should also refer to the YPCE Project Award which may be more suitable. Please seek advice from the Young People, Children and Education (YPCE) Team

For more information, visit The Arts Council.