Should we reshape our devised piece to fit funding criteria, or stay true to original vision?
Our small theater collective has been developing a devised performance about gentrification in our neighborhood for the past year. It's a deliberately messy, immersive piece that takes audiences through actual streets and into local businesses. The form reflects the chaos of displacement - there's no linear narrative, multiple languages overlap, some sections are confrontational. We just learned we're finalists for a major city arts grant (€45,000) that would allow us to pay everyone properly and extend the run. However, the feedback from the grant panel was clear: they love the concept but want us to "make it more accessible" and "ensure it can tour to traditional venues." They specifically mentioned concerns about the immersive format being "exclusionary to people with mobility issues" and the multilingual aspect being "confusing without surtitles." Our team is split. Three members are immigrants whose languages are central to the piece - they feel that adding surtitles or translating everything diminishes the experience of linguistic displacement we're trying to evoke. Two ensemble members are really struggling financially and see this funding as necessary for survival. Our original vision was specifically NOT to tour - the piece is about THIS neighborhood.
Stakes
Without this funding, we can probably only do 3-4 performances. With it, we could run for two months and actually compensate people. But adapting might fundamentally change what we're making.
Constraints
- Grant decision is in 3 weeks - Any major changes would need to be implemented in rehearsals immediately - We have no other funding prospects of this scale - The piece uses specific locations that don't exist elsewhere (a shuttered bodega, a community garden under threat)