LEWISTON – The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded The Public Theatre a $10,000 grant to support its educational outreach programming for the 2003-04 season.

The programs funded by this grant are:

• The Student Matinee Program that enables students to attend professional theatre at a 70-percent reduction of the regular ticket price.

Performances are held during school hours. Students pay $5 and participate in a post-show discussion of the play with the actors and director. Study guides, prepared by Professor Martin Andrucki of Bates College, are distributed to assist teachers in preparing their class prior to the performance. In the past 12 seasons, more than 40,000 students have attended.

• The Student Internship Program that offers 10 to 16 high school students internships at the theater each season. The interns work directly with a stage manager and participate in every aspect of the rehearsal process and run of the production.

• Free Theatre that offers complimentary tickets for preview performances to the clients of a number of local groups and service organizations. These groups include AmeriCorps, Androscoggin Head Start, Auburn Adult Education, Lewiston Adult Learning Center, Literacy Project, Mary’s Place, New Beginnings, Opportunity Farm, Somali Community Association and Windham Pines.

“The programs being funded by the NEA will enable The Public Theatre to make sure that everyone who wants to attend our theatre can, regardless of their economic situation,” said Public Theatre artistic director Christopher Schario.

The Public Theatre also has received a $5,000 grant from the Shubert Foundation, which is the nonprofit arm of the Shubert Organization that owns and operates 17 Broadway theatres.

The mission of the Shubert Foundation is to sustain and advance live performing arts in the United States. The foundation supports professional theatre and dance companies throughout the country, through unrestricted grants that serve to strengthen the structure that nurtures the artistic process.

“This grant to The Public Theatre is a wonderful affirmation of the success of our mission, ‘to bring first rate professional theatre to the people of Maine at an affordable price,'” Schario said.



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