EXIT Theatre
For General Operating Support
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Amount$150,000
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Program
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Date Awarded7/23/2013
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Term36.0 Months
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Type of SupportGeneral Support/Organization
Strategies
Overview
EXIT Theatre develops independent theater artists and small budget theater companies by providing them with opportunities to perform. It commissions and develops new plays; provides low-cost theater rentals and production support; and produces the San Francisco Fringe Festival, the region’s largest grassroots theater festival where 100 percent of the ticket revenue is paid to artists. Each year, more than 500 performances are presented to nearly 21,000 patrons at its five black-box theaters located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Renewed support would help EXIT Theatre to continue to provide independent theater for Bay Area artists and audiences.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.sffringe.org
Address
156 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102-2708, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for the expansion of the EXIT Theaterplex in downtown San Francisco
Supported by the Hewlett Foundation since 1987, the Exit Theater is a complex of small performance venues located in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Located on the ground floor of a low income residence hotel, the Exit currently rents a 49 seat theater and a 99 seat venue to emerging artists seeking an inexpensive place to put on a show. The Exit also rents a 70 seat theater to the Cutting Ball Theater (a Hewlett grantee) on a full time basis for its home season. The Exit saw demand for its spaces grow 60% last year, enabling them to present 646 performances including San Francisco’s acclaimed annual Fringe Festival. With demand growing, and a successful history of converting store-front space into dynamic performing arts facilities, the Exit has recently secured a 30 year lease on a 1,680 square foot space adjacent to its current theaterplex. With project support Exit will convert this former bakery into a 49 seat theater, a classroom/rehearsal space, an office for theater operations and develop a façade on Eddy Street.
