Golden Thread Productions

For General Operating Support

  • Amount
    $30,000
  • Program
  • Date Awarded
    7/20/2009
  • Term
    24 Months
  • Type of Support
    General Support/Organization
Overview
When Torange Yeghirazarian founded Golden Thread in 1996 it was the country’s only theater company dedicated to staging works about the people of the Middle East by Middle Eastern and Middle Eastern- American playwrights. Thirteen years later it still is. On a very small budget the San Francisco based company presents two-full length theatrical productions each year in addition to a week-long festival of shorter works and employs young actors to tour a children’s theater production to local schools and libraries. Thirty-two hundred people saw Golden Thread’s work last year including 750 students. Because the U.S. Census does not allow respondents to identify as Middle-Eastern it is difficult to know how large this broadly defined community is in the Bay Area, however, Golden Thread’s audience is comprised almost equally of people who identify as Armenian, Iranian, Arab or Israeli and those who don’t identify as Middle Eastern. With renewed support this lean organization, which has struggled during its recent grant period to grow its board and generate more income from individual donors, will continue to support artists of Middle Eastern descent performing work about the Middle Eastern experience, to commission a new play by an Arab-American playwright and to illuminate the complexity of Middle Eastern experience on stage for Bay Area audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.goldenthread.org 
Address
1695 Eighteenth Street, C-101, San Francisco, CA, 94107-2376, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for general operating support  
Golden Thread Productions is the first theater company in the United States devoted to producing plays from or about the Middle East. Its suite of programs serves more than 7,000 people each year, offering authentic voices and alternative perspectives of the region to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The organization actively engages local, national, and international networks of theater artists to serve Bay Area communities through the development and production of innovative works, and the promotion of the diverse performance styles of the Middle East. This grant aligns with the Performing Arts Program’s Communities strategy.
for the development of a fundraising plan  
Golden Thread Productions presents multiple perspectives of the Middle East by developing and producing theatrical works for 5,000 people each year. Its work is aesthetically varied, ranging from works that are politically engaging to those that emphasize cultural traditions and universal stories for children and families. Founded in 1996, Golden Thread Productions is the only theatre company in the county dedicated to staging works that explore Middle Eastern experiences and are written by Middle Eastern and Middle Eastern-American playwrights. This grant to Golden Thread would support the development of a fundraising plan focused on increasing donations from individuals.

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