Irish-language Theatre Production and Touring Award

Overview

Overview

The Irish-language Theatre Production and Touring Award is an action research project, with support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI), with the objective of supporting the development, production and presentation of large-scale theatre in the Irish language to general audiences in order to ensure more people will enjoy high-quality theatre experiences in the Irish language throughout the country.

The successful applicant will be required to work closely with an evaluator during the award period as part of an action research project. Please note that unsuccessful applicants may also be contacted by the evaluator for research purposes.

The award is open to individuals and/or entities with a demonstrable and successful track record in theatre practice based on the island of Ireland.

Objectives and priorities

• The emphasis of the award is on productions of pre-existing dramatic texts – either existing Irish language texts or translations of existing texts from any other language – although new plays written in the Irish language and/or translations of plays new to Irish audiences will also be considered where an argument can be made for their appeal to potential audiences (e.g. where the applicant artist/writer/producer/presenting partners have strong track records for attracting audiences).

Priority will be given to proposals from theatre artists/companies with a significant track record for the presentation of large-scale work, or those in partnership with such entities, that:

• Seek to present high-quality, technically excellent and artistically ambitious theatre in Irish

AND

• Include partners that have a track record of producing plays in the Irish language

AND

• Can offer subtitles/dual translation with each performance to ensure that the widest possible audience is reached

AND

• Have experience working on a North–South basis.

Proposals must:

• Include performances in at least four major urban centres on the island of Ireland, with a minimum of two nights in each centre, at least one of which must be in Northern Ireland

AND

• Be from or in partnership with existing theatre and/or Arts Council-funded and/or ACNI-funded organisations or individuals with a significant track record in the presentation of large-scale theatre to general audiences where that partnership is additional to, and separate from, that organisation’s or individual’s core-funded activity

AND

• Can demonstrate their feasibility by providing evidence of:
  • Realistic timelines and budgets
  • Realistic audience targets and income projections appropriate to the scale of the production – and which shows appropriate marketing budget and resources to ensure maximising the general audiences
  • Appropriate pay for all artists, including collaborators
  • Financial and/or in-kind supports from other sources
  • MOUs or letters of support from a minimum of four venues.

The successful applicant will have until December 2025 to complete their proposal.

Please note that the focus of this award is to make theatre aimed at a general audience, and all applications should reflect this.

Who can apply?

The award is open to organisations and individuals working professionally in theatre.

To be eligible to apply, applicants must be based on the island of Ireland. Please note that applicants must clearly show how their application would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland. There are certain exceptions where the Arts Council may deem eligible applications made by those based outside the island of Ireland. However, before admitting as eligible any such application, the applicant would need to explicitly outline within the application how the outcomes of any such proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland, and the Arts Council must be satisfied with same.

Organisations currently in receipt of funding under Strategic Funding, Arts Centre Funding, Partnership Funding and Arts Grant Funding are eligible to apply – although the activity must be separate from activities already funded through the Arts Council of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

As part of its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, the Arts Council is committed to offering equality of access, opportunity and outcomes to all potential applicants regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, civil or family status, religion, age, disability, race or membership of the Traveller community, or socio-economic background. In this funding scheme the Arts Council particularly welcomes applications that are representative of the diversity of Irish society, including but not limited to any of the characteristics outlined above, and/or initiatives that deliver equitable opportunities or outcomes for those involved.

Who is the applicant?

The applicant is the person or organisation that will receive any grant offered and that will be required to accept the terms and conditions of that grant. Any grant offered will only be paid into a bank account held in the name of the applicant. All documentation provided must be in the name of the applicant (individual artist or arts organisation) – e.g. if you apply to the Arts Council for funding under the name Máire de Barra, then all documentation, including bank and tax details, must be in that name; variations such as Mary Barry or Barry Studios are not acceptable.

What may you apply for?

The maximum award available is €400,000. In applying for this award, you are required to submit a detailed budget ensuring that all costs and in-kind supports and income are listed. The Arts Council supplies a Budget Template that you must use for this purpose – you may download this from the Irish-language Theatre Production and Touring Award webpage. Applications that do not provide budget information in the required template will be deemed ineligible. The maximum amount you may request is the difference between the proposed expenditure and proposed income you indicate in the budget.

• Proposed expenditure should include all fees,* wages, technical costs, promotion and publicity costs, administrative costs, etc.
• Proposed income should include what you expect to receive from other funders, etc. It is also important to reflect all in-kind support** in both income and expenditure, so reflecting the full and true value of your proposal.

*/** see Guidelines for further details