Theater News

DDCF Announces $3.5 Million in Endowment Grants

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) has recently announced that it has awarded $3.5 million in endowment grants to six theater companies across America. The grant is funded through the Leading National Theatres Program which supports artistic programs and provides matching endowment grants to exemplary theatres across the United States. The Leading National Theatres Program is part of a larger theatre initiative launched by the DDCF and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2000 to support the country’s nonprofit theatre community. The organizations to receive endowments, along with the amounts of the rewards, are listed below:

  • Actors Theatre of Louisville (Louisville, KY): $400,000
  • American Repertory Theatre (Cambridge, MA): $700,000
  • Center Stage Associates (Baltimore, MD): $600,000
  • Intiman Theatre (Seattle, WA): $400,000
  • The Public Theater (New York, NY): $700,000
  • Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago, IL): $700,000


Public Theater executive director Mara Manus stated, “This is a tremendous award coming on the eve of our 50th anniversary celebration. By providing funds for the endowment specifically earmarked for new work, the DDCF will further support The Public as it commissions new work and continues its mission to nurture and promote new voices that represent the diversity of American culture.”


For more information on the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, click here.