Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Announces 2010 Philadelphia Theatre Initiative Grant Recipients, 8/16

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage has announced more than $960,000 in grants from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative (PTI) to 13 theater companies, presenters, and theater independent artists.

"We are proud to support the artistry of outstanding theater professionals as they create and present work that promises to entertain, inspire, and educate audiences in our region," said Fran Kumin, director of the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative.

Among the organizations funded: Arden Theatre Company will present its first commissioned work for children's theater, The Flea and the Professor, adapted from a Hans Christian Andersen story by Guggenheim Fellow JorDan Harrison and composer Richard Gray.

Both the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Theatre Exile will produce plays by OBIE Award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh: The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, respectively. New Paradise Laboratories will explore Web and GPS technologies in Extremely Public Displays of Privacy. The 2011 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe will feature the U.S. premiere of The Devil and Mister Punch, performed by Improbable Theatre.