The Arts Council Theatre Project Award (Ireland)

Objective

The objective of the Theatre Project Award is to support the development, generation, creation making and/or presenting of theatre to audiences. The award is open to professional artists and organisations with a demonstrable track record in theatre practice, in collaboration with artists and/or in partnership with existing theatre organisations, arts centres or festivals, where that partnership is additional to, and separate from, that organisation’s core activity.

Award Strands

• 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
    • Can demonstrate excellence, innovation and/or experimentation
    • Work in collaboration with more than one creative artist as part of the play-development process
    • Seek to develop new and innovative concepts for productions of new dramatic material
    • 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
    • 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
    • Demonstrate ambition and excellence in the quality of dramaturgical support and/or collaboration proposed
    • Seek to develop new and innovative concepts for productions of preexisting dramatic material
    • 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
    • Seek to present new work or existing repertoire in a new, innovative and/or experimental context
    • Demonstrate ambition and excellence in the quality of proposed dramaturgical mentorship and/or collaboration
    • 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

• 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.
  • 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
    • 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

• 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)

Who can apply?

• 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

Who cannot apply?

• 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.

For more information, visit The Arts Council.