Established by Mary Orr Denham in 2006 with a bequest to the SDC Foundation in honor of her late husband, Reginald H. F. Denham, the Denham Fellowship is awarded annually to women who are early and mid-career directors to further develop their directing skills. The Denham Fellowship recipient will be selected by the Denham Committee, which is made up of theatre professionals.

Past recipients include Colette Robert, Arpita Mukherjee, Michelle Bossy, May Adrales, Tea Alagic, Rachel Alderman, Kathleen Amshoff, Jessi Hill, Joanie Schultz, Pirronne Yousefzadeh, Bridget Leak, Hannah Ryan, Diane Rodriguez, and Shirley Jo Finney.

Candidates may apply to the Denham Fellowship under one of two plans: fee enhancement or self-producing. Under fee enhancement, the Denham Fellowship augments a fee offered to the Director by a theatre or producer.  Under self-producing, the Denham fellowship will serve as or augment the Director’s fee.

The recipient of the 2023-2024 Denham Fellowship will be notified in November 2023.

Award:

Because of a generous anonymous donation to the Foundation, the Fellowship provides the recipient this year with a $10,000 award to support their work on a specific production.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be Members or Associate Members of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. In accordance with the donor’s bequest, this is an award specifically for women.

Application information:

Deadline: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 11:59pm ET

Requirements: Productions must start rehearsal between November 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 to qualify. Please include dates for pre-production, rehearsals, and performances.

To apply: Fill out this application. Questions can be previewed before filling out the application. Please note there is a $5 application fee to apply for this fellowship. This is for the administrative costs. If there is a concern about ability to pay the application fee please reach out to Hannah Kutten at hkutten@sdcfoundation.org.