ASHFIELD — A $68,143 award from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism played a vital role in the production of “Once in a Blue Moon — Cada Luna Azul” over the summer at Double Edge Theatre.
The Ashfield performance venue was one of 23 in the state to receive funding through the Live Theater Tax Credit program. The majority of the $68,143 went toward personnel costs, according to Double Edge Theatre’s Executive Director Adam Bright.
Bright added that this is the second year that the Office of Travel and Tourism has given out these tax credits, as well as the second year that Double Edge Theatre has received funding through the program.
“It’s a really great grant, that there’s very few of, to support the operating costs of a theater in this day and age,” Bright said. “It’s more like a reimbursement grant that supports original productions, and I think if you look at the list of who got it, we’re definitely an outlier. We’re doing an original work, and we’re in a rural space. … I’m really happy we’re being recognized by the state for the work that we do.”
Double Edge Theatre was the sole Franklin County recipient in the latest funding round.
The summer show, “Once in a Blue Moon — Cada Luna Azul,” was an original production written by lead actor Carlos Uriona and directed by Stacy Klein, one of the founders of Double Edge Theatre. The story is based on Uriona’s past experience with military dictatorship and cultural rebellion in his home country of Argentina. The play puts his character in a fictional version of his hometown after several years of exile.
Co-Artistic Director Travis Coe said that because of the money that was awarded to Double Edge Theatre, the production was able to bring in actors from across the world.
“The great thing with grants like this is that it allows us to work with our great company and ensemble of folks long-term and be able to sustain that work with them, as well as bring in other collaborators,” Coe explained. “We were able to bring in folks from Argentina, from the United States, all around — just wonderful other artists who we get to share with this region.”
Both Bright and Coe say the funding was “crucial” for the theater company to carry out the summer production, and that these kinds of funding sources are dwindling. To sustain the arts, especially in rural areas like Ashfield, both say these pools of funding must become more common.
“Getting specific funding just for the artistic side is not always what we get, and it’s actually the hardest to get funding for,” Coe said. “So, when this type of recognition happens from the Office of Travel and Tourism, it really helps us to be able to sustain a project like this. … It’s just great to be recognized as a great place of tourism in this area.”
“It’s so hard right now finding funders that are willing to fund people,” Bright echoed. “There’s a paradox here, where it seems like Double Edge can thrive in building buildings, because there’s avenues to … find investments to build buildings. At the same time, we can be hemorrhaging on an operating level and not be able to pay for the humans that make those buildings worthwhile. … It’s no small thing that the Live Theater Tax Credit exists and that there is $68,000 and change for us to access. … Grants like this need to become more available and have more money put behind them.”
