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| TAP (Theatre Artists Project) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Theatre Artists Project |
| Abbreviation | TAP |
| Formation | 2008 |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Region served | United States; international touring |
| Type | Nonprofit performing arts organization |
| Leader title | Artistic Director |
TAP (Theatre Artists Project) is a nonprofit performing arts organization founded to develop new theatrical work and support independent artists through productions, residencies, and professional development. The organization has engaged with a broad network of theater-makers, presenters, educational institutions, and cultural funders to mount productions, workshops, and touring projects across North America and Europe.
The organization was founded in 2008 amid a wave of nonprofit incubators similar to La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and The Public Theater. Early seasons featured collaborations with companies associated with Off-Broadway, Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Broadway, and regional houses such as Arena Stage, Center Theatre Group, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and Goodman Theatre. Leaders who influenced TAP’s model cite practices from Anne Bogart, Robert Wilson, Peter Brook, Julio César Chávez, and institutions like Royal Court Theatre and Sadler's Wells. The project expanded during the 2010s alongside contemporaries including National Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theater, and Second Stage Theater.
TAP’s mission connects artist development, production, and community engagement, echoing initiatives from Theatre Communications Group, TAP (Theatre Artists Project) Foundation partners, and funders such as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, MacArthur Foundation, and New York State Council on the Arts. Programs include residency tracks influenced by models at Yale School of Drama, Juilliard School, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and exchange programs with Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Professional training and mentorship have featured partnerships with Actors Equity Association, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Dramatists Guild of America, and labor organizations like SAG-AFTRA for cross-disciplinary development.
Productions have ranged from avant-garde pieces inspired by practitioners like Jerzy Grotowski, Graham Vick, Heiner Müller, and Tadeusz Kantor to new plays and musicals developed alongside playwrights and composers affiliated with Lincoln Center Theater, O'Neill Theater Center, Huntington Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Mark Taper Forum. TAP has co-produced with festivals and venues including Spoleto Festival USA, Provincetown Playhouse, Walker Art Center, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and touring presenters such as Kavli Institute partners and international houses like Comédie-Française, Schaubühne, and Helsinki International Film Festival crossover events. Guest directors and designers have included collaborators known from Royal Shakespeare Company, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Sydney Theatre Company, and touring ensembles such as Complicité and Mummenschanz.
Governance follows a nonprofit board model with trustees drawn from arts leadership similar to boards at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Carnegie Hall, and university arts councils at Columbia University, Princeton University, and Harvard University. Senior staff roles mirror structures at Roundabout Theatre Company and Manhattan Theatre Club, including an Artistic Director, Executive Director, Director of Development, and Director of Education. Advisory committees have included artists and administrators who also serve on panels for NEA Literature Fellowships, Mellon Foundation initiatives, and committees at USArtists International and Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.
TAP’s financial model combines grants, donations, ticket revenue, and earned income, with supporters drawn from philanthropic entities like the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and corporate partners comparable to sponsorships at American Express and HSBC USA. Partnerships with university theater departments at Northwestern University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and cultural diplomacy programs at U.S. State Department facilitate touring, while collaborations with presenters such as New Victory Theater, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and Citi-sponsored seasons broaden visibility.
TAP alumni include playwrights, directors, actors, and designers who later worked with institutions like Tony Award-winning productions on Broadway, television credits on HBO, Netflix, BBC, and film projects with studios including A24 and Focus Features. Alumni have been associated with fellowships and awards from MacArthur Fellows Program, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Laurence Olivier Awards, and residencies at MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and Civitella Ranieri. Notable collaborators have included artists who also worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phyllida Lloyd, Julie Taymor, Ivo van Hove, and performers known from Alfred Hitchcock Presents archives and contemporary ensembles such as The Wooster Group.
Critics from publications comparable to The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker have reviewed TAP productions, noting influence on regional theater practices alongside companies like Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Off-Broadway innovators. Academic study of TAP-related work appears in journals associated with Columbia University Press, Routledge, and conference proceedings from Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Community impact initiatives resemble programs at ArtsEdge and partnerships with municipal arts offices in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Category:Theatre companies in New York City