Announcing the 2019-20 Continuation Grant
Network of Ensemble Theaters Awards $10,000 NET/TEN Continuation Grant to TeAda Productions, T-Shirt Theatre, ʻInamona Theatre, and Hawaiian Theatre Program at University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
PORTLAND, OR -- Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET) is pleased to award the $10,000 NET/TEN Continuation Grant for 2020 to TeAda Productions (Los Angeles, CA), T-Shirt Theatre (Honolulu, HI), ʻInamona Theatre Company (Honolulu, HI), and Ka Hālau Hanakeaka (Honolulu, HI). Awarded annually as part of Network of Ensemble Theaters’ Travel and Exchange Network (NET/TEN) program, the NET/TEN Continuation Grant is designed to sustain and move forward relationships that were previously funded by NET/TEN Exchange Grants.
With support from the Continuation Grant in 2020-2021, the recipients will build on existing relationships to conduct a week intensive that allows for experienced teaching artists from each company to exchange methodologies while training apprentice level ensemble members to lead workshops. The project will culminate in a presentation of best practices at the National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival (ConFest) at the University of Hawai’i Manoa (UHM). This work will center the transfer and sharing of knowledge about Hawaiian language, culture, and theatre practice in community. The coming phase of this project will propel the cohort forward in deeper understanding of each other's artistic practices and support creative play with the potential to unearth opportunities for new works. This collaboration will allow for a deeper understanding of Native Hawaiian and Asian Pacific Islander centered devised theater ensemble practices, and centers the need to create intergenerational learning spaces for Native Hawaiian artists. The findings from this collaboration will be shared during the CAATA ConFest at the University of Hawaii, an organization and event for which members of TeAda and T-Shirt serve as Board members and leaders.
About TeAda Productions:
TeAda Productions’ mission is to honor the displaced, exploited, and overlooked, by fostering opportunities for healing through artistic expression and community building. TeAda is a nomadic theater of color, rooted in the stories of immigrants and refugees. A pioneer in social justice theater, TeAda develops programs and theater productions that seek to empower communities of color. TeAda’s history of working in collaboration with other community-based organizations has proven essential to their dynamic programming, aimed at maximizing creative works that address pressing community issues. The TeAda artistic process combines community-based story gathering, social justice practices and devised ensemble techniques. TeAda’s annual core programming consists of: 1) artistic exchanges with other like-minded organizations; 2) ensemble building and training opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists of color; 3) programs that engage adults and youth in performance workshops; 4) national touring shows.
About T-Shirt Theatre:
T-Shirt Theatre is a community network of grassroots organizations, schools, educators, parents, students, teaching artists and youth mentors that engage diverse audiences throughout Hawaii with drama. T-Shirt Theatre is a low tech, high zest performing company based at Farrington High School in beautiful downtown Kalihi USA. TST’s signature piece is Lychee, a fruit that’s rough on the outside and sweet on the inside, much like some of the youth who first become a part of the company and find that their stories are transformed into the plays they perform. T-Shirt Theatre was born from a contract several years ago to train incoming students audience skills in an effort to tame what was then very unruly assemblies in the 1200 seat Farrington auditorium.
About ʻInamona Theatre Company:
ʻInamona Theatre Company is dedicated to reintroducing the native stories of Hawaiʻi to the community. ʻInamona’ is a traditional Hawaiian relish made from the roasted kernel of the kukui (candlenut). It is sprinkled sparingly over mea ʻai (nourishing food) to gently enhance the natural flavor. Its Artistic Director is Moses Goods, one of Hawaiʻi’s most prominent theatre artists. Originally from the island of Maui and now based in Honolulu he has traveled nationally and internationally performing his original work to a wide range of audiences. His work ranges from full length plays to theatrical storytelling pieces, strongly rooted in Native Hawaiian culture. Currently his one-man show DUKE is touring throughout the Hawaiian Islands as well as the Continental U.S.
About Ka Hālau Hanakeaka:
Founded in 1996, Ka Hālau Hanakeaka (KHH) is a Hawaiian language theatre troupe geared toward creating a new venue for the Hawaiian language to flourish by authoring and producing plays completely performed in the Hawaiian language. The stories that KHH produces are ones that showcase Hawaiian values and customs of old with the idea that most of these values and customs have a place in today’s world. These stories are also conveyed totally in the Hawaiian language. We are trying to advance the Hawaiian language as a language of entertainment and a means of conveying culture.
About Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET)
A national community of artists and arts organizations dedicated to collaborative creation, Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET) exists to propel ensemble theater practice to the forefront of culture and society. NET links a diverse array of ensembles and practitioners to one another and the performing arts field, encouraging collaborations and knowledge building/dissemination. NET is committed to the advancement of the ensemble form and strives to bring about change in the world beyond ourselves through the transformative power of collaborative theater and ensemble practice. Programs and activities focused on field building, field convenings, and field professional development/resources serve to connect, nurture, and sustain NET’s 350+ organizational and individual members throughout the United States.
The peer review panel for the 2019-20 NET/TEN Continuation Grant included: Amara Brady, performer and dramaturg based in Brooklyn, NY, Daisuke Kawachi, audience engagement specialist, artist, and director based in Minneapolis, MN; and Alexandra Meda, director, cultural strategist, and Artistic Director of Teatro Luna.
The NET/TEN grant program is supported by lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
