The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York and the Howard Gilman Foundation are thrilled to announce the 18 recipients of the New York City Small Theatres Fund for FY25 – FY26. Selected from an initial application pool of 214 applications, the funded theatres will receive two years of flexible, general operating support to support the operations of their theatre companies. We are excited to continue to be able to provide multi-year support to this vibrant and crucial segment of New York City’s cultural ecosystem.
The theatres funded through this year’s grant cycle represent a range of theatrical aesthetics, organizational structures, methods of working, and artistic communities from across all five boroughs. They include theatres led by ensembles, companies working with young audiences, theatres creating work that provokes social change, ensembles focused on serving a specific cultural community and companies consistently challenging what theatre is – and can be.
For some of the grantees, this funding will help push them to their next level of growth, as they continue to build resilience and capacity, while some grantees will use this support to take some space to stabilize and right-size.
Artistic Director of Rooted Theater and two time Small Theatres Fund recipient had this to say about the funding:
“The Small Theatres Fund has been such a helpful and encouraging source for Rooted Theater Company. It has allowed us to breathe a little easier, plan better, and move forward in the spirit of creativity. Secured funding from the Small Theatres Fund is really a blessing that not only helped Rooted but also brought Real, Open, Objective, Theater EDucation to communities that are in need of consistent artist stimulation.”
Recipients of the 2025-2026 Small Theatres Fund
AnomalousCo
AnomalousCo is a predominantly queer/woman-led, feminist, transdisciplinary performance collective, generating both original and pre-scripted works at the intersection of drama, new media, circus arts, live music, installation and immersive performance. We are a theatre without borders: intercultural, international, and multilingual.
Amaterasu Za
Amaterasu Za features talented bi-lingual theater artists exploring classic and contemporary Japanese works for Japanese and English-speaking audiences. Through our productions and ongoing training in Japanese-influenced movement and theater techniques, Amaterasu Za hopes to foster a deeper understanding between cultures, and a deeper understanding for Japanese-Americans and Japanese living in the US of their own cultural heritage that is so under-represented and misunderstood in popular culture.
Black Revolutionary Theatre Workshop
BRTW exists to disrupt any and all oppressive systems that marginalize Black people using narrative and performance as a methodology to recenter Black people and experiences. With economic, social, educational, healthcare, housing, and political injustice facing our community, BRTW aims to tackle the issues that impact us while becoming a beacon for Black opportunity within the arts.
Brooklyn Youth Company
Brooklyn Youth Company (BYC) is a theatre-making program where students learn how to act, write, direct and produce original work. BYC is committed to engaging students in the cultural resources of NYC so field trips to Broadway plays, museums, NYC landmarks, etc. are included in each session.
Grand Pistachio
Grand Pistachio creates original theater for young people utilizing larger than life forms of puppetry, mask, and music. Our mission is to help young audiences build empathy, see resiliency in action, and provide context for how their own stories are connected to and shaped by history. We achieve these goals by highlighting the stories of people who may not be included in history books or cultural records. Through this lens we explore the hardships of immigrant families in Layer the Walls, untapped poetic potential within ourselves in Blown Away By Poetry, and dangers of sanitation workers in City of Trash.
Gung Ho Projects
Gung Ho Projects is a New York-based performance and education platform that creates opportunities for self-expression, empowerment, exchange, and understanding across linguistic and cultural divides. Our mission, like our work, transcends the boundaries of a single language or cultural perspective: Gung工合Ho Projects פרינגּש leaps 跨文化 into the 間 between cultures and languages, creating theater, film, and spaces for learning that שּפיל 遨遊 변화 تنوير変えるgozar to propel us forward, together.
Flying Leap Productions
Flying Leap Productions makes and produces thoughtful, participatory performances around complicated or difficult subject matter, for families to experience together. Our performances take place in the community, outside traditional theater spaces, and we make them in direct collaboration with our artists and our audience. With a core emphasis on accessibility and joy, our performances offer a foundation for discussion between children and their families.
Hit the Lights! Co.
Hit The Lights! Co. is a multi-disciplinary ensemble based in Astoria, Queens. Together, they devise hand-crafted stories and educational programming centering innovation, accessibility, and fun.
IRT Theater
IRT is a grassroots laboratory for independent theater and performance in New York City, providing space and support to a new generation of artists. IRT’s mission is to build a community of emerging and established artists by creating a home for the development and presentation of new work.
KPC – Keeping People Connected
KPC – Keeping People Connected is a multidisciplinary collective of Performing Artists who tell stories examining social injustices and stigmatized subject matter through dance, music, and conversation.
Kunqu Society, Inc.
Founded in 1988, Kunqu Society is dedicated to the study, promotion, and preservation of Kunqu, an elegant form of traditional Chinese theatre which is an intangible cultural heritage of humanity proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Based in Flushing, NY, and led by Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants, the ultimate goal of Kunqu Society is to contribute to America’s multicultural heritage while bringing about a better appreciation of Kunqu.
Mass Transit Street Theater
Our mission is to promote racial equity, emotional literacy, and social justice using original plays, videos, workshops, residencies and interactive theater events. We are a 54 year old Bronx-based theater company known nationally for a dynamic mix of storytelling, spoken word, music and dance.
National Queer Theater
National Queer Theater is an innovative theater collective dedicated to celebrating the brilliance of generations of LGBTQ artists and providing a home for unheard storytellers and activists. By serving our elders, youth, and working professionals, NQT creates a more just future through radical and evocative theater experiences and free community classes.
Rooted Theater Company
Rooted Theater company engages, challenges, and inspires audiences through theatrical productions that range from the classics to new and emerging works; our programming encourages social consciousness through Real, Open, and Objective Theater Education. We celebrate the diversity of our community’s roots, our present struggles, and future successes through intentional theater.
Safe Harbors NYC
Safe Harbors focuses on the development and production of Native Theater and Performing Arts in New York City within the broader American theater; we combat stereotypes and support vibrant Native communities. We develop ongoing dialogue with Policymakers about the approach to cultural and socioeconomic issues using Theatrical performances, Performing Arts, Native Cultural Consultancy, panel discussions, and Cultural Events.
Spiderwoman Theater
Spiderwoman Theater’s mission is to inspire, nurture and challenge Indigenous and women theater artists and their communities to discover and explore their dreams and their futures through collective storytelling and performance through theater performance, training and cultural education rooted in an urban Indigenous performance practice.
The Sống Collective
The Sống Collective mission is to reclaim the Việt American narrative by creating development and performance opportunities for emerging artists of color. We do so by nurturing a community of artists whose work explores questions of identity, race, intersectionality, immigration, and the refugee experience without glorifying or exploiting the generational trauma of a diaspora tied to war.
Panelists for the 2025 – 2026 Small Theatres Fund:
Rebecca Aparicio
Grants Manager, Latinx Playwrights Circle
Alex Aron
Producing Artistic Director of Remote Theater Project
Becky Baumwoll
Artistic Director, Broken Box Mime Theater
Theresa Buchheister
Artist and Administrator – The Brick, The Exponential Festival
Sindy Isabel Castro
Jugando N Play
Magaly Colimon-Christopher
Founding Artistic Director at Conch Shell Productions
Ana Cristina Da Silva
Performer, Musician and Producer & Interim Consultant at Benvenuti Arts
Jordana De La Cruz
Director, Curator, and Creative Producer
Iyvon E.
Producing Artistic Director of The Parsnip Ship
Geoff Kanick
Co-Artistic Director of LubDub Theatre Co
Kristel Kempin
Director, Major Gifts at New York Public Radio
Linda Kuo
Dancers Unlimited
Erica Mann
Grant Writer, Theatre for Young Audiences, USA
Ana Moioli
Actor and Theater/Film Creator & Co-Artistic Director of Et Alia Theater
Samuel Morreale
Associate Producer, Soho Rep. & Freelance Dramaturg and Director
Eh-den Perlove
Director of Development at SheNYC Arts
David Skeist
Producing Director of Caborca, Actor, and Composer
Randall C. Simmons
Individual Giving and Special Events Coordinator at New York City Center
Ellpetha Tsivicos
Creative Director, Producer, Consultant + Co-founder of One Whale’s Tale
Leave a Reply