A Broken Umbrella Theatre Awarded Good to Great Grant to revitalize 280 Blake Street, New Haven and turn it into a Black Box theater
New Haven, CT -- | A Broken Umbrella Theatre is being awarded $500,000 under the state’s Good to Great Grant Program, which is co-administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and CT Humanities. It was established in 2014 with a goal of helping nonprofit arts, cultural, or history organizations enhance visitors’ experiences in engaging, meaningful, and relevant ways. With the funds, A Broken Umbrella Theatre, known for its history-infused theatrical adventures, will build a permanent home to create a black box theater, cultural hub, and operational base. The project will create a center for new work, classes and workshops; and, continue to celebrate New Haven by exploring our collective histories. This theater will be an essential addition to available spaces in New Haven for the entire arts ecosystem. 280 Blake Street sits at the crossroads of Beaver Hills, West Hills and Westville neighborhoods, just blocks away from Southern Connecticut State University, positioning the venue as a vital connector in the community.
For the past 15 years, A Broken Umbrella Theatre has created site-specific theatrical adventures inspired by the history of the city of New Haven.
“Our plays go from blank pages to fully realized productions and found spaces go from raw to rehabilitated performance stages. Now our ensemble has an opportunity to build its own artistic home, a new black box theater, to facilitate the next phase of the company’s growth.”
— Founding Artistic Director and Co-Project Manager of 280 Blake Street, Ian Alderman.
"We are thrilled and beyond grateful for the support from the State of Connecticut. This grant will serve to kickstart our capital campaign and confirms our commitment to put down even deeper roots in a city that we have celebrated since we built our first show in 2009.”
— Ruben Ortiz, Artistic Director of A Broken Umbrella Theatre.