The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio is telling audiences at their production of "Fat Ham" at the Riffe Center in downtown Columbus that a federal grant they received is in a state of limbo.
"Audiences, when we say, 'In January, we were awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant,' they cheer," the theatre company's Executive Director Christy Farnbaugh told WOSU. "And then we have to say, 'And we don't know if we'll ever get the money,' And then they're booing."
The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio doesn't know whether a $10,000 grant it was awarded by the federal government in December will actually be given to them following President Donald Trump's executive orders against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and what he calls "gender ideology."
The theatre company is premiering "Fat Ham" in Columbus over the next few weeks, which features a Black queer man as its main character along with other queer characters. It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
The show just opened Saturday. Farnbauch said the grant accounted for about 30% of their show's budget.
Farnbauch said the National Endowment for the Arts funding portal isn't working and it appears they've been locked out of it entirely. The company first received notification it got the grant in December through the NEA's Challenge America program.
Farnbauch said since they were locked out, the theatre company has received little to no communication from the government other than that the grant is still being reviewed.
Farnbauch said they attribute this to an executive order from President Donald Trump that bans grant awards for programs that support what he calls "gender ideology," though they've gotten no official notification that this was the reason.
"Fat Ham" is directed by David Glover and follows a young, queer Black man named Juicy, as he faces challenges with his family and identity all while attending a backyard barbecue.
"This show sits squarely on the shoulders of diversity, equity, and inclusion for all the right reasons, right? And it's a big part of who we are as a company. Our vision is really to be open and accepting and focus on diversity and stories from different perspectives," Farnbauch said.
Farnbauch previously told WOSU receiving the grant "validated" their work. Now, Farnbauch said they risk running into the red and hope they can at least exceed their ticket sales goal.
Despite this uncertainty, Farnbauch said the show will go on since they planned to put it on even before the grant was awarded.
"You never know about grant funding, right? Grant funding is really the icing on the cake of everything else. It was not in the budget, so we weren't counting on it per se," Farnbauch said. "When we made the budget for the show, we were not counting on the $10,000. But when you find out you get it, it's such a shot in the arm."
Farnbauch said this situation won't discourage the theatre company from doing productions like "Fat Ham" in the future.
"We're the theater to do it, because it aligns with our mission again of telling stories for the current moment to build empathy. So if we don't produce the show, it may not be here in Columbus at this scale at the professional level," Farnbauch said. "If we don't do it at the professional level, no one else will do it."
