Local Lab 15
April 16 - 19, 2026
The Nomad Playhouse | Boulder, CO
1410 Quince Ave, Boulder, CO 80304
Local Lab is Boulder’s premier new play festival.
3 Staged Readings of New Plays
Post-Show Conversations, Playwrights Panel, Parties, and a Community Hike
Local Lab 15 is sponsored in part by Jane Butcher and the Prickly Pear Fund.
ONLY $99
ALL-ACCESS PASSES provide entry to all Local Lab 15 events including staged readings, the playwrights panel, social gatherings, and the community hike.
Lab pass holders also get 20% off beverages at Ruzo Coffee all April and Happy Hour prices on meals at Dagabi Cucina from April 17-19. You also received 10% off or a $10 credit (whichever is greater) for new clients on their first appointment at Mesha’s Coiffure All of these businesses are just steps from the Nomad Playhouse.
ONLY $30
Limited single-reading tickets are now available.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Day one
thursday, April 16, 2026
COMMUNITY HIKE*
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Time: 3:45 - 5 pm
Location: Wonderland Lake (guests meet at The Nomad Playhouse)
Gather with the Local Lab 15 Company and your fellow audience members for a casual stroll on one of Boulder’s most scenic trails (rated easy).
*Included in All-Access Pass. Purchase HERE.
HAPPY HOUR*
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Time: 5-6:30pm
Location: Dagabi Cucina 3970 Broadway #101, Boulder CO 80304
Gather with your fellow audience members in at this neighboorhood favorite. Enjoy 1 complimentary wine, beer or N/A beverage. Tapas and meals will be available for purchase.
*Included in All-Access Pass. Purchase HERE.
Space is limited RSVP HERE.
Day two
Friday, April 17, 2026
FESTIVAL KICKOFF PARTY*
Friday, April 17, 2026
Time: 5 - 6:45 pm MT
Location: The Nomad Playhouse
Gather with the teams behind each play, the Local staff, and your fellow playgoers to raise a glass to Local Lab 15. Enjoy light refreshments and a mix of complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic options.
*Included in All-Access Pass. Purchase HERE.
PLAYWRIGHTS PANEL*
Friday, April 17, 2026
Time: 6:45 - 7:30 pm MT
Location: The Nomad Playhouse
Sit down with the Local Lab 15 playwrights to discuss their inspirations, processes, and experiences.
*Included in All-Access Pass. Purchase HERE.
READING ONE
FASTER HORSES
By Alex Riad
Friday, April 17, 2026
7:30 pm MT
Location: The Nomad Playhouse
ABOUT THE PLAY
Two women, sick of working at male-dominated tech companies, decide to start their own app together, but the collaboration exposes the cracks in their friendship and threatens to turn their venture into one of the soulless start-ups they’re rebelling against.
MEET THE FASTER HORSES TEAM
Local Lab 15 playwright Alex Riad (FASTER HORSES) sits down with Local's Executive Director Misha S. Zimmerman to discuss his new play, FASTER HORSES.
Day Three
Saturday, April 18, 2026
READING TWO
ONLY SOME OF GOD’S CHILDREN or MISSISSIPPI MAGNOLIAS
By Paris Crayton III
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Time: 7:30 pm MT
Location: The Nomad Playhouse
ABOUT THE PLAY
Set two days after the 1963 March on Washington, John Malachi Curtis, and his best friend, William Cochise Brown, return home to Mississippi to unpack all of the emotions left over from the March, only to find John's son, Ezekiel, has been attacked during a sit-in protest. Betty, John's wife, wants to leave Mississippi for good but the promise of land and remnants of love makes John unwilling to do so. Only Some of God's Children or Mississippi Magnolias is a story of five different flowers just waiting to bloom.
MEET THE ONLY SOME OF GOD’S CHILDREN or MISSISSIPPI MAGNOLIAS TEAM
click on image to read bio
LAB CELEBRATION + COMMUNITY MEAL*
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Time: directly following Reading 2
Location: The Nomad Playhouse
It’s time to relax alongside the Local Lab 15 creative teams. Enjoy your preferred beverage, snacks, and the chance to discuss the plays you’ve heard so far.
*Included in All-Access Pass. Purchase HERE.
Day four
Sunday, April 19, 2026
COFFEE WITH CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS*
Sunday, April 19, 2026
12:45-1:45 pm MT
Location: Ruzo Coffee (next to The Nomad Playhouse)
Join Local Theater Company artistic leadership for a casual coffee prior to the final Local Lab 15 reading. All April long, Local Lab All-Access Passholders receive 20% off beverages. A percentage of sales will be donated to Local Theater Company.
*Included in All-Access Pass. Purchase HERE.
READING THREE
FIERCE SATIRE AND MEDIOCRE SEX
By Edith Weiss
Sunday, April 19, 2026
2 pm MT
Location: The Nomad Playhouse
ABOUT THE PLAY
Fierce Satire and Mediocre Sex finds the humor in religion and its loopholes, trying to speak truth to power, suicide, overpowering sexual urges, female empowerment, and the frustration and occasional absurdity of political correctness. It’s about the tragicomedy of being human, emphasis on the comedy.
MEET THE FIERCE SATIRE and MEDIOCRE SEX TEAM
click on image to read bio
MEET THE DESIGN TEAM
click on image to read bio
MEET THE COMPANY MANAGER
click on image to read bio
*Appearing through an Agreement between Local Theater Company and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
