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APPLICATION NARRATIVE
<br /> 0 anizationa!P fil
<br /> The DEEP DISH THEATER COMPANY is a Chapel Hill arts organization committed to the presentation of compelling,
<br /> provocative, human-centered dramatic work in an intimate setting. It develops that work through the collaboration of its
<br /> artists, striving always to create productions which cannot be contained within a single imagination. It celebrates the
<br /> communal nature of creating and experiencing a theatrical work, and is determined to include and reach out to the
<br /> surrounding community in all its diversity.
<br /> Our organization is founded on the conviction that the theater can be a vital and important part of the life of a community.
<br /> Over the eleven years we have been producing in Chapel Hill's University Mall, we have developed long-term
<br /> relationships with our audience, artists, community organizations like the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
<br /> and the IFC Food Bank, mall management and our merchant neighbors.
<br /> Our performance space seats 71 people, making for an intimate relationship between performers and audience. We have
<br /> found that relationship to be one of the most striking elements of our productions. Audience members frequently
<br /> comment on how engaged they are by our productions, reminding us that there is a magic in that audience-performer
<br /> relationship that can rival any falling chandelier or on-stage helicopter.
<br /> In our twelve seasons, we have amassed a vigorous and diverse body of work. Classic work(The Misanthrope, Othello,
<br /> She Stoops to Conquer) has shared our stage with acclaimed contemporary work(Lobby Hero, The Clean House, Body
<br /> Awareness, Superior Donuts, Next to Normal); issue-oriented plays(The Exonerated, Cat's-Paw, Glengarry Glen Ross)
<br /> with sparkling comedies(Polish Joke, An Idea!Husband, Is He Dead?); modern masterworks(Hedde Gabler, The Price,
<br /> Summer and Smoke, Radio Golf)with North Carolina and World premieres(Permanent Collection, The Gratitude of
<br /> Wasps, Mi Vida Loca); and plays from around the globe(A Lesson from Aloes, Nathan the Wise, The Cripple of
<br /> Inishmaan). With every production, we host discussions on issues raised by the play, on the technical production
<br /> challenges the play presents, and on a book which is related thematically to the play. We have also been able to host
<br /> writer/performers like Barbara Bates Smith and Mike Wiley.
<br /> Increasing Diversity
<br /> We have been developing our audience database over the last few years are now much better able to keep in contact
<br /> with our patrons, so we are confident that we can build this season on the recent advances we've made. Recent
<br /> productions like Jitney, A Lesson from Aloes, Body Awareness, The Clean House, and Radio Golf have introduced our
<br /> work to new audiences,we embrace non-traditional casting whenever possible, and we are exploring outreach
<br /> opportunities across the Triangle. The diversity of our actor and designer pool has increased dramatically over the years,
<br /> and we have expanded and diversified our board as well.
<br /> Proposed Us fe-o Gfgnt Fund
<br /> We are requesting support for the four productions and one workshop that will comprise our 2013-2014 season. These
<br /> are: Good People, David Lindsay-Abaire's comic drama about a single mother who learns an ex-boyfriend has returned to
<br /> the old neighborhood and decides to hit him up for a job, followed by the World Premiere of A Queer Kiss by Joel Drake
<br /> Johnson, about two high school boys and their parents caught in a storm of accusation, recrimination and burgeoning
<br /> sexuality. The new year will bring the third annual New Play Workshop, featuring a playwright-in-residence and a script-
<br /> under-construction; Tom Stoppard's dazzling and heartfelt examination of the interdependence of art, science and love,
<br /> Arcadia; and the Spanish classic Life is a Dream by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, newly translated and adapted by Pulitzer
<br /> Prize-winner Nilo Cruz.These plays reflect our desire to explore themes and issues pertinent to our community and to
<br /> present work from a variety of eras and perspectives; they also testify to the maturity of our theater in the twelve years of
<br /> our existence.
<br /> Challenges/Long Range planning
<br /> Our top three challenges in the coming year will be(1)to expand our board and our fundraising capabilities, (2)to build
<br /> and strengthen our relationships in the community to increase our potential audience and our institutional support,and(3)
<br /> to continue to look for ways to enhance the theater-going experience.
<br /> Thank you for your consideration.
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