CREEDE – Along with many theatres and arts groups nationwide, Creede Repertory Theatre was disappointed to learn recently that a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Headwaters New Play Program in 2025 was withdrawn. 

CRT has been receiving grants from the NEA since 1974 - it was the NEA which enabled the small theatre in a tiny frontier town of 400 residents to build robust education touring programs which have touched the lives of over 450,000 students in rural and remote communities across the American southwest. 

Through Headwaters New Play Program, CRT commissions, develops, and produces new American plays for all ages, amplifying the voices and culture of Colorado's San Luis Valley and the rural Southwestern United States. Since 2012, eight plays from the program have premiered during Creede Repertory Theatre’s main season, including “Prima’s Guide to Funerals” by Leonard Madrid, “Hazardous Materials” by Beth Kander, and “Kind of Red” by John DiAntonio, as well as annual world premiere productions for CRT Education - Tiny Tour, The KID Show, and the Young Audience Outreach Tour. 

Work on the 2025 Headwaters programming - which includes a commission of a new play in partnership with members of Dragoncillo Puppet Troupe, the 23rd annual KID Show, Headwaters New Play Festival in August, the 4th annual Tiny Tour, and the 42nd annual Young Audience Outreach Tour - is well underway. Artists have been engaged, developmental readings have occurred, students have signed up, and schools have been booked. 

“CRT will be bringing Headwaters to our community in 2025. But we need your help to make it happen, and to ensure a future for these vital programs,” CRT officials stated. For more information, visit creederep.org.