Do you give money to the arts?  

Why not loan money to an artist?

Most people donate money to a general fund (United Way, Red Cross, Save the Whales, the Church), trusting in its board of directors to dole it out appropriately.  Theatre lovers give to the Arts & Science Council.  It's all the same to the IRS.

What if you like Shakespeare?

Some people prefer to have a say in how their charitable contributions are spent.  What if you could write off funding for a play you really like?  What if your deduction could help someone you know play Hamlet?

If it sells, you get a full refund

Stage One budgets are balanced to cover costs when the average paid attendance reaches half the seating capacity of the theatre.  For example, a ten-show run in a 200-seat house will repay backers in full with 1000 paying customers; if 500 people come, backers get back half, and write off the difference.

Stage One can find independent artists to produce

Your Favorite Play

A Non-Profit Umbrella for Independent Theatre, Stage One enables individual playwrights, actors, directors, and other theatre artists to produce plays that express their personal creative convictions without losing their shirts. Essentially we offer artist- producers a budget based on non-profit rates that can break even at the box office, and a tax write-off in case it doesn't. We then administer the budget through a special account, receiving funds, paying bills, keeping records and filing reports. We also advise producers on request and refer them to our sources, while they maintain complete creative control.

Note that Stage One does not directly finance plays. Instead, we authorize individual producers to solicit backing from people like you, who support their work as independent artists, in the form of gifts or conditional loans.

 If you'd like to know more about our program, please contact Stage One to arrange a meeting.