The Wellesley Repertory Theatre Grant

Wellesley Repertory Theatre, in partnership with Wellesley College Theatre, announces a project-based grant for graduates

Share your creative voice with our community and the world beyond

About the Grant

Wellesley Repertory Theatre was established in 1998 (as Wellesley Summer Theatre) by Founding Artistic Producer And Director Emerita of Wellesley College Theatre Nora Hussey. Wellesley Rep productions over the decades have been lauded by critics and audiences alike, and we are so proud of its ongoing legacy. Nora’s mission, supported by the generosity of Ruth Nagel Jones ‘42 and carried forward by Nora’s successor Marta Rainer ‘98, was to establish a professional artistic community for an ensemble of Wellesley College students, alumni, educators, and local theatre makers. Through the annual production of plays on campus outside of the academic year, Wellesley Rep built a bridge for Wellesley College students and graduates into their professional lives! 

During the past several years of pandemic-induced production pause, we actively engaged with a wide web of graduates in our field to understand what sustains them in challenging times, and how we could be of service. Wellesley Repertory Theatre is now re-emerging, inspired and influenced by our community. We are redefining the Rep! We approach this opportunity with joy and care for what that bridge can look like going forward. We take our responsibility  to be effective and intentional stewards of the resources endowed to us by the Jones family very seriously. We aspire to create opportunities that have direct and lasting impact on the manifold creative lives and careers of our graduates in an evolving, multifaceted artistic landscape.  

While our core mission remains passionately steadfast, we are thrilled to set forth a reinterpretation of our methodology, with a renewed vision and structure: 

  1. WRT will provide project grants every two years to Wellesley College graduate theatre-makers to bolster career progression, encourage creative risk, establish bespoke laboratory conditions for artistic growth, and foster artistic engagement in their own communities. 

  2. WRT will gather this cohort of grant recipients and our campus community of makers in alternate years to connect, reflect, and share - through presentations, performances, conversations, gatherings and workshops. 

In this way, WRT remains committed to acting as a creative incubator and source of artistic sustenance for current Wellesley College Theatre students, our amazing graduate body, and our supporters.

To invest in this mission, Wellesley College Theatre (the Wellesley College Theatre Studies Program and Wellesley Repertory Theatre) will award up to 3 Wellesley Repertory Theatre Grants in this inaugural cycle: the 2024-25 academic year. This grant provides project-based support to Wellesley College graduates for the development and/or production of unpublished/unproduced work in the field. This unrestricted funding enables recent graduates and working alums to set aside time for creation, purchase materials, fund collaboration with other artists, rent rehearsal or performance space, and/or otherwise expand and bolster their work. Projects are expected to be completed during the 2024-25 academic year. Grantees will commit to attending an exhibition at Wellesley College campus - planned for September 2025 - to share their work with Theatre Studies students, the campus community, and the general public.

Propose your project:

We invite Wellesley College graduates to propose original or adapted live performing arts projects they would like support to realize. Experimental, “out of the box”, socially engaged and/or multidisciplinary works are among the many forms encouraged. Applicants should be a Wellesley College graduate 2 or more years post-diploma. 

Projects may look like, but are not limited to:

  • Completion of a new script 

  • Completion of a newly devised work

  • Staging an original work for the first time

  • Acquisition of, training with and implementation in practice of speciality technical equipment

  • Bringing a performance of original work to underserved populations or areas

Presentation at the 2025 Wellesley Repertory Theatre Festival/Conference may look like, but is not limited to:

  • A play reading of your new script

  • A workshop or performance of your new work

  • A presentation about your completed project and its impact

  • A teaching circle to pass along acquired skills to current students & community members

How to Apply:

  • Fill out this application form, which includes

  • Write a proposal (under 5000 characters) which addresses the following:

    Experience - Give us an overview of your time since leaving Wellesley College. What kind of work have you engaged with? What experiences have shaped your work and goals? What projects are you most proud of? What interests/moves you to create? How does your past experience inform your work on this project? Describe how your current work and proposed project are an extension of your learning experience at Wellesley College.

    Overview - Why are you interested in collaborating with Wellesley College Theatre? What would you like to explore with this project? What would your project look like - what are your specific goals and expected outcomes during the grant period? How would funding for this project further your artistic and career ambitions?

    Impact - What kind of artistic, social, civic, or communal impact do you hope your project will have? What kind of audience do you hope to reach, and why? How do you plan to achieve this? Why this project, and why now?

    Proposed budget - Please use the Project Budget Form to list expected expenses and income from the project (if any). Explain in your proposal; Will you need to travel? To hire collaborators or performers? To purchase special equipment or materials? 

    Presentation at the Wellesley Repertory Theatre Festival: How might your project involve or inspire current Wellesley College Theatre students? What would bringing your project to campus look like? Could you stage a reading or workshop with students and community members? Could you present research findings or project outcomes to our community?

  • Fill out the Project Budget Form

  • Upload your Proposal and Project Budget Form along with a CV to this form.

The 2024-25 Grant cycle has closed. Stay tuned for 2025-26!

FAQs

  • Applicants should be a Wellesley College graduate 2 or more full years post-diploma. 

  • No problem! Theatre sits at the cross-section of many disciplines. We encourage graduates with any degree to apply, though you should be able to demonstrate a history of work in the performing arts, and your project should be theatre-based.

  • These funds can be used at the grantee’s discretion to cover both personal expenses and general expenses for the project, including but not limited to; travel related to project development, purchasing supplies, hiring collaborators, specialists, performers, and securing venue rentals.

  • Yes, Wellesley College Theatre will arrange travel and accommodation for your participation in the festival. You do not have to use grant funds for this purpose.

  • 2025-26 Cycle TBA