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Play on Shakespeare at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Play on Shakespeare

PLAY ON SHAKESPEARE has been organized to enhance the understanding of shakespeare's plays in performance for theatre professionals, students, and audiences by engaging with contemporary translations and adaptations.

$1.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$320k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$2.9MEducation$50kRecreation & Sports$15kPhilanthropy$15k
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 18 grants below total $1,459,300, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,814,037 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $354,737 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $98k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $775k
  • $250k+2 grants · $570k
$55,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$2.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATRE COMPANY CO INC$320,000
IDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL INC$250,000
MAGIC THEATRE INC$179,000
PORTLAND CENTER STAGE$169,000
THE ACTING COMPANY$125,000
STUDIO ACTING CONSERVATORY INC$80,000
AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER$58,300
PORTLAND SHAKESPEARE PROJECT$56,500
HERO THEATRE INC$55,000
AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY$52,500
SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL OF DALLAS$35,000
THE DUBOIS FAMILY LLC$15,000
ASHLAND NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL$15,000
BLACK OPS THEATRE COMPANY$13,000
RAMAPO COLLEGE FOUNDATION$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 64% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY INC: $60k → 16%IDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL INC: $250k → 8%CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATRE: $170k → 10%AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER: $58k → 10%SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA: $12k → 14%NEW YORK LIVE ARTS INC: $30k → 17%SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL OF DALLAS: $35k → 14%PRAGUE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY AMERICA: $30k → 16%STUDIO ACTING CONSERVATORY INC: $80k → 14%PORTLAND SHAKESPEARE PROJECT: $70k → 8%PORTLAND CENTER STAGE: $169k → 12%ASHLAND NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL: $15k → 13%WOMEN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL: $44k → 8%SHAKESPEARE THEATER ASSOCIATION: $13k → 12%THE DUBOIS FAMILY LLC: $15k → 12%CHAGRIN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS AND CULTURE: $26k → 17%PERSERVERENCE THEATRE INC: $25k → 8%DEPAUL UNIVERSITY - ADVANCEMENT GIFT PROCESSING: $16k → 14%ACTORS SHAKESPEARE PROJECT INC: $50k → 16%AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $53k → 10%HERO THEATRE INC: $55k → 14%NEW YORK LIVE ARTS: $11k → 17%SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL OF DALLAS: $30k → 14%PRAGUE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY AMERICA: $20k → 16%STUDIO ACTING CONSERVATORY INC: $15k → 14%PORTLAND SHAKESPEARE PROJECT: $57k → 8%PORTLAND CENTER STAGE: $28k → 12%CHAGRIN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS AND CULTURE: $25k → 17%AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $30k → 10%HERO THEATRE INC: $20k → 14%NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATRE COMPANY CO INC: $325k → 17%CARA MIA THEATRE CO: $23k → 14%PORTLAND SHAKESPEARE PROJECT: $20k → 8%CHAGRIN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $12k → 17%MAGIC THEATRE INC: $179k → 10%NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATRE COMPANY CO INC: $320k → 17%UNIVERSES: $15k → 12%GREAT LAKES THEATER: $36k → 17%MAGIC THEATRE INC: $31k → 10%ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY AMERICA INC: $20k → 17%MAGIC THEATRE INC: $31k → 10%BOSTON COURT PASADENA: $23k → 14%MAGIC THEATRE INC: $26k → 10%THE CLASSIC THEATRE OF HARLEM INC: $20k → 17%BLACK OPS THEATRE COMPANY: $13k → 17%HOLMES PRODUCTIONS: $45k → 17%THE ACTING COMPANY: $125k → 17%THEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP: $25k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ID
IL
NY
MA
OR
OH
NJ
CA
NC
DC
MS
TX

Grants abroad, by region: $200k on the FY2024 return

Schedule F, as filed: 1 region. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$200k · 100% · 3 grants

Stated purpose: PROGRAM SERVICES

How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 16 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +47% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
20

Total granted

$1.9M
$612k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
+12%

Still filing today

100%
85%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $502k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyReligionHealthOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • NA
    National Asian American Theatre Company
    2× · 2023–2024 · $645k · revenue +47% · 48% of their budget
  • MT
    MAGIC THEATRE INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $267k · revenue +83%
  • PS
    Portland Shakespeare Project
    3× · 2022–2024 · $147k · revenue +19% · 77% of their budget

Funded once

  • CS
    CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER
    one grant, 2022 · $170k · revenue -9%
  • HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC
    one grant, 2022 · $60k · revenue -8%
  • HP
    HOLMES PRODUCTIONS
    one grant, 2023 · $45k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc
—
2
The Center for International Theatre Development
Arts & Culture
3
The American Playwriting Foundation
—
4
The Russian Arts Theatre and Studio

Develop recognition of international theater

Arts & Culture
5
Titan Productions Incorporated

Titan theatre company is committed to breathing new life and clarity into classical works of theatre, exploring new and contemporary language plays, and delivering adventurous and visceral theatrical experiences for our audiences and…

Arts & Culture
6
Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre
Arts & Culture
7
Staretthe Directors Company Inc

The Directors Company is an award-winning not-for-profit theatre company with an extraordinary record in its mission to develop and produce groundbreaking new plays and musicals initiated and generated by outstanding directorial talent,…

Arts & Culture
8
Theatre for a New Audience Inc

The mission of theatre for a new audience is to develop and vitalize the performance and study of shakespeare and classic drama. the theatre is dedicated to the language and ideas of writers - to a dialogue over centuries between…

Arts & Culture
9
Classical Theatre Company

Classical Theatre Company is dedicated to boldly re-envisioning classical drama on the stage, in the community, and in the classroom through engaging and enlightening plays that bring them new life and relevance while maintaining the…

Arts & Culture
10
Bow Street Theatre Trust
—
11
Haven Arts Theatre

We are a theatre company. We provide opportunities for local theatre artists and high quality productions for the public.

Arts & Culture
12
A Contemporary Theatre Inc

Organization mission: act is a contemporary theatre where artistic ambition and civic engagement unite. organization vision: act envisions a world where the power of theatre expands our collective understanding of community and our own…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is African-American Shakespeare Company; the most unlike its peers is Dubois Family Foundation Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

42 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 42 of the 45 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/42
Grantees still filing
28/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAGIC THEATRE INC: $267,064 · Arts & CultureMAGIC THEATRE INCIDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureIDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL INCPORTLAND CENTER STAGE: $196,500 · Arts & CulturePORTLAND CENTER STAGEPortland Shakespeare Project: $146,500 · Arts & CulturePortland Shakespeare ProjectGROUP I ACTING COMPANY INC: $125,000 · Arts & CultureGROUP I ACTING COMPANY INCTHE STUDIO ACTING CONSERVATORY INC: $95,000 · Arts & CultureHero Theatre Inc: $90,000 · Arts & CultureAFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $82,500 · Arts & CultureACTORS' SHAKESPEARE PROJECT: $78,000 · Arts & Culture+21 more: $580,868 · Arts & Culture+21 moreNational Asian American Theatre Company: $645,000 · OtherNational Asian American Theatre Compa…CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $170,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATERThe Shakespeare Festival of Dallas dba Shakespeare Dallas: $65,000 · OtherThe Shakespeare Festival of Dallas db…HOLMES PRODUCTIONS: $45,234 · OtherSHAKESPEARE-SAN FRANCISCO: $40,000 · Other+4 more: $43,048 · OtherDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $25,960 · EducationRAMAPO COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $17,500 · EducationSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $12,000 · EducationTHEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP: $25,000 · HealthDUBOIS FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · PhilanthropyLITERARY MANAGERS AND DRAMATURGS OF AMERICA INC: $8,500 · Religion
Arts & Culture$1,911,432Other$1,008,282Education$55,460Health$25,000Philanthropy$15,000Religion$8,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNational Asian American Theatre Company: $645,000 over 2y, 48% of budgetMAGIC THEATRE INC: $267,064 over 4y, 12% of budgetIDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL INC: $250,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetPORTLAND CENTER STAGE: $196,500 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetCALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $170,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetPortland Shakespeare Project: $146,500 over 3y, 77% of budgetGROUP I ACTING COMPANY INC: $125,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetTHE STUDIO ACTING CONSERVATORY INC: $95,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetHero Theatre Inc: $90,000 over 4y, 27% of budgetAFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $82,500 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetACTORS' SHAKESPEARE PROJECT: $78,000 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetThe Shakespeare Festival of Dallas dba Shakespeare Dallas: $65,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetCHAGRIN FOUNDATION FOR ARTS & CULTURE: $63,000 over 3y, 25% of budgetHUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION: $58,300 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPRAGUE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY AMERICA: $50,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetNEW YORK LIVE ARTS INC: $41,218 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSHAKESPEARE-SAN FRANCISCO: $40,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetGREAT LAKES THEATER FESTIVAL INC: $36,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDEPAUL UNIVERSITY: $25,960 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CLASSICAL THEATRE OF HARLEM INC: $25,250 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetPerseverance Theatre Incorporated: $25,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetTHEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP: $25,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetCARA MIA THEATRE CO: $23,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetTHE THEATRE AT BOSTON COURT: $22,500 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetSHAKESPEARE THEATRE ASSOCIATION: $20,500 over 2y, 16% of budgetROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetRAMAPO COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $17,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAshland New Plays Festival: $15,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetBLACK THEATRE UNITED INC: $13,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBLESSED UNREST THEATRE INC: $12,500 over 1y, 12% of budgetSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $12,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLITERARY MANAGERS AND DRAMATURGS OF AMERICA INC: $8,500 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $8,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHAKESPEARE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $8,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetartEquity Community: $6,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Shubert Foundatio…Arts Midwest Incorpor…The Andrew W Mellon F…Theater League IncThe Howard Gilman Fou…Theatre Communication…Jkw Foundation Tr Ua …Axe-Houghton Foundati…The Sheri and Les Bil…The Rock FoundationBooth Ferris Foundati…Mid Atlantic Arts Inc
The Shubert Foundation IncNY35.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Shubert Foundation Inc · Arts Midwest Incorporated · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Theater League Inc · The Howard Gilman Foundation Inc · Theatre Communications Group Inc · Jkw Foundation Tr Ua 092597 · Axe-Houghton Foundation · The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation · The Rock Foundation · Booth Ferris Foundation Xxxxx4008 · Mid Atlantic Arts Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Play on Shakespeare funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Play on Shakespeare. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Actors' Shakespeare Project: 6% of income from government
  • Huntington Theatre Co Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Ashland New Plays Festival: 2% of income from government
  • Ramapo College Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Portland Center Stage: 1% of income from government
  • Portland State University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Play on Shakespeare?

Find your warmest path to Play on Shakespeare through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 45 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Play on Shakespeare’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home