The FutureNow Stage Directing Fellowships are sometimes as a ‘gymnasium for rising directors,’ given the volume of experience packed into its framework. Recipients direct multiple projects, assist on productions, and and more. A compressed schedule invites rapid growth and development, under seasoned mentors.

In this Fellowship, recipients attend the career accelerator intensive known as Professionals Week, before traveling to the acclaimed Chautauqua Theater Company, where they serve as Directors In Residence for the summer season. While there, they will serve as assistant directors for the mainstage productions, direct their own one-act play for the company, lead processes for a late night series, and contribute to the life of the company by learning internal processes within the administrative departments. Later in the year, the recipients move to Theaterworks USA, the largest producer of works for young audiences in the United States, to direct a remount production that will then tour nationally.

Applications are especially welcome from directors who identify as members of populations that have historically been denied equity, access, inclusion or belonging in the field and in society, who have been marginalized, underrepresented, and/or those whose paths to direction may have been nonlinear or nontraditional. This includes, but is not limited to, Black, Indigenous, Latine (Latino/Latina), AAPI (Asian-American/Pacific Islander), MENASA (Middle Eastern/North African/South Asian), Biracial, Mixed-Race, Global Majority, LGBTQIAA2+, non-binary directors, disabled, and/or immigrant directors or directors not born in the United States. Please see our F.A.Q. page for eligibility questions.