FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 19, 2024
The Shakespeare Theatre Association Announces Second Major Gift from Kansas City-based Theater League for 2024
Contact Stephanie Berry | scberry@central.uh.edu
Patrick Flick, Executive Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) and Mark Edelman, Founder and President of Theater League, Inc., a Kansas City, Missouri-based contributor to the performing arts, announced today that the League will be gifting thirty-three (33) Shakespeare theaters across the United States and internationally with a grant of $255,000 in general operating support. This marks the second year that these non-restricted gifts of either $5,000 or $10,000 (based on budget size) will be awarded to STA-member Shakespeare-producing theaters. This year awards will be given to theaters with budgets between $150,000 and $2,750,000, including Houston Shakespeare Festival. An award of $5,000 was also made to the Shakespeare Theatre Association itself.
Says Edelman, “Our 2023 partnership with STA and ongoing support of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in Kansas City made the extension of this grant program for 2024 a natural for us. Hundreds of thousands of patrons-- many of them attending free of charge in festival-like settings-- will take advantage of our grants and the great work for which STA member organizations are renowned. I'd like to think the Bard would be delighted.”
Says Flick, “STA is always looking for new ways to assist our membership, whether it be in the form of support to attend our annual conference, or by seeking out financial assistance for our hard-working member theaters. Support for Shakespeare and the classics in the communities we serve is such an important issue, and STA and all our member recipients are grateful to Theater League for their support.”
Kansas City-based Theater League is a not-for-profit performing arts organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in the communities it serves with the thrill of live theater. Founded in 1976, the group supports theater companies in its hometown and across the country, including subsidizing tickets for student groups through its Theater ROcKs (Reach Out to Kids) program.
“What appealed to us is the far-flung nature of the organizations we’ll be supporting with this grant program,” continued Edelman. “Shakespeare companies in twenty-five states plus the Czech Republic will get a little help from Theater League.”
STA is a 33-year-old theatre association founded in 1991 at a meeting in Washington DC, hosted by the Shakespeare Theatre and the Kennedy Center. The organization convenes annually to provide support for currently producing companies, as well as to provide a place for peer-to-peer mentorship for emerging and newer Shakespeare-producing companies from within the United States and internationally. STA Full Organizational Membership includes over 125 producing theaters representing indoor, outdoor, Equity, non-Equity, year-round, seasonal, university-affiliated, and free Shakespeare companies with budgets ranging from $1,000 to $60,000,000.
STA’s member theaters engage a diverse array of audiences and staff representing a variety of characteristics, ages, and abilities. STA is a resource network that helps bridge the gap between scholarship and production and promotes the teaching of Shakespeare in schools. STA conferences embrace a variety of topics designed to keep Shakespeare relevant to our modern world.