Trustus Theatre received three awards from statewide arts organizations, most notably the national grant award of $15,000 from the Shubert Foundation. The award is intended for not-for-profit professional theater and dance companies.
“We are honored to be awarded a grant that recognizes not only the theatre’s contribution to professional theater in the U.S., but also the development of new work, which continues to be a vital part of the mission at Trustus,” Dewey Scott-Wiley, the artistic director of Trustus, said in a press release. “Being acknowledged by The Schubert Organization in this way is a profound affirmation of our longstanding commitment to producing important new American theater.”
“It gives us more backing to take chances and produce the work that has attracted our following,” director of marketing Chad Henderson said.
Trustus also received the South Carolina Theatre of Distinction Award honored by the South Carolina Theatre Association.
“[Trustus] became, very quickly, a safe place for exploration and expression of the political, the personal and all things human,” Anne Tromsness, Division Chair of SCTA, said.
Trustus is known for shedding light on perspectives that had been traditionally ignored or marginalized.
“We’ve tried to revive our artistic mission and make more courageous choices,” Henderson said. “We don’t want to produce a season of cotton candy. It’s brain candy. It’s an evening that entails a conversation over drinks afterwards.”