ATMTC Selected as Panelist for Weissberg Foundation Diversity in Theater Forum

Adventure Theatre MTC, currently celebrating its 65th Anniversary and Michael J. Bobbitt's 10th Anniversary as Artistic Director, is thrilled to announce awarding grant award of $195,000 over three years from the Weissberg Foundation to engage and expand new voices and audiences in DC-area theatres.

Adventure Theatre MTC was among six theatres chosen in a highly-competitive proposal review as part of a panel hosted by the Weissberg Foundation. This panel will share and disseminate best practices in theater diversity including a guide to diversifying theater as a deliverable to the Foundation. Other theatres chosen for the panel include Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Forum Theatre, Mosaic Theater Company of DC, GALA Hispanic Theatre, and dog & pony dc.

Bobbitt, who has pioneered Autism/Sensory-Friendly performance since 2008, has always valued diversity onstage and in theater audiences. At Adventure, he established the African American Adventures Series, presenting five world premiere stories for young audiences based on the African American experience.

Bobbitt has continued to encourage diversity in traditional stories as he brings culturally diverse stories to the stage. In 2012, Bobbitt wroteThree Little Birds, a reggae musical, about the young Jamaican experience which toured nationally in 2013 and 2015 and transferred Off-Broadway in 2013. Most recently, 2016's The Emperor's Nightingale was rewritten by Singapore playwright Damon Chua and featured an all-Asian cast as well as an award-winning Asian creative team led by Natsu Onada Power.

"I am thrilled that Adventure Theatre MTC is getting recognition for its belief that diversity and cultural understanding in every area of theater matters," says Michael J. Bobbitt. "We are deeply grateful to the Weissberg Foundation for this investment. Adventure will commit these funds to deepen and expand the work that we are doing and incorporating diversity in all aspects of operations, governance, and programming."

ABOUT THE WEISSBERG FOUNDATION'S FUND FOR DIVERSITY IN THEATER

The Weissberg Foundation believes in the power of theater's unique ability to enhance our humanity, stir us to action, and connect us to each other while simultaneously entertaining us from diverse perspectives. The foundation is approaching the Fund for Diversity in Theater as an opportunity for learning and collaboration for our grantees, the broader theater community, the foundation, and our peers in philanthropy.

ABOUT ADVENTURE THEATRE MTC

Located in Glen Echo and Rockville, MD, Adventure Theatre MTC is entering its 65th year of creating unforgettable experiences for theater students and theatergoers in the DC Region. It is our goal to educate and inspire new generations of theater artists and audiences with exceptional theatrical experiences. Adventure Theatre MTC is the 2015 recipient of the TYA/USA Harold Oaks Award for significant contributions to the Theatre for Young Audiences field. For more information, visit www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org. For tickets, call the Box Office at (301) 634-2270. For Adventure Theatre MTC Academy, call (301) 251-5766.

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