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 Cristin Carole, 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 for the funding to be 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. Applications are now closed.

The recipient of the 2024-2025 Denham Fellowship will be notified in August 2024.

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.

Requirements:

Productions must start rehearsal between September 1, 2024 and August 31, 2025 to qualify. Please include dates for pre-production, rehearsals, technical rehearsals, and performances.

Evaluation Criteria:

Applications will be scored using the following criteria:

• IMPACT: Is the proposed project significant to the development of the director’s skills and career?
• ARTISTIC MERIT: Does the proposed project demonstrate creativity and vision?
• VIABILITY: Does the applicant demonstrate sufficient experience in the field to successfully direct the proposed project?

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. Applications are now closed.