LOCAL LAB 11
Boulder’s Premier New Play Festival
Play. Party. Engage.
Local Theater Company discovers and develops world-premiere plays, small-cast musicals and devised theater pieces through the Local Lab new play festival. Week-long workshops culminate in publicly-presented staged readings where you, the audience, participate in conversations that move the material toward full productions. Parties and workshops round out the festival programming and provide audiences the opportunity to casually engage with each other and the creative teams.
This season, Local Lab will be divided into three parts: Fall Lab, a three-day festival presented live/in-person at Boulder’s Deviant Spirits, a queer arts space and distillery, as well as live streaming (December 4-6, 2021); Pop-Up Lab, independent new play workshops that will take place across the United States including New York City and Denver (NYC: February 18, 2022; Denver: March 13, 2022) and Spring Lab, a three-day live/in-person festival that will feature four new plays including a collaboration with CU Boulder, workshops, parties and post-show conversations (April 22-24, 2022).
SEASON 11 MEMBERSHIP
Become a Season 11 Member today and receive priority access to deeply-discounted tickets all season long!
“I loved seeing how involved and engaged the community was and how the company has built such a strong base of support and interest in challenging theater. Super inspiring!”
FALL
LAB
DECEMBER 4-6, 2021
Clown Lung*
Written by Steven San Luis Directed by Meghan Frank
Saturday, December 4, 2021 | 4pm MT
Deviant Spirits (DV8) Distillery (Boulder, CO) + Live Streaming
Shells*
Created by Nick Chase and Roslyn Hart
Sunday, December 5, 2021 | 6pm MT
Deviant Spirits (DV8) Distillery (Boulder, CO) + Live Streaming
*Fall Lab Party directly after 6pm performance
Abuelas
Written by Stephanie Alison Walker
Translation by Paula Pizzi-Black Directed by Gabriella Cavallero
A Bilingual Play
Monday, December 6, 2021 | 6pm MT
Live Streaming
Do you want to hear some of the best new American plays being written today? Care to engage with the artists behind these works and participate in conversations that will move them one step closer to production? Want to do this from the comfort and safety of your home*? FALL LOCAL LAB is for you.
Join us for this 3-day hybrid festival of new American plays and post-show conversations.
*There will be a limited number of in-person tickets for these presentations. Become a Season 11 Member to receive priority access.
SPRING
LAB
APRIL 22-24, 2022
You Enjoy Myself*
Written by Topher Payne
Directed by Betty Hart
Friday, April 22, 2022 | 7pm MT
Boulder, CO
*Kick-off Party directly before 7pm performance
The Lotus
Written by Esther Omegba
Directed by Lisa Marie Rollins
Saturday, April 23, 2022 | 2pm MT
Boulder, CO
Playwright sponsor: Jane Butcher
Goodnight Cowboy*
Created and Performed by Jody Kuehner aka Cherdonna Shinatra
Saturday, April 23, 2022 | 6pm MT
Boulder, CO
*Late Night Lab Party directly after 6pm performance
Affinity Lunch Minutes
Written by Nick Malakhow
Directed by Sabin Epstein
Sunday, April 24, 2022 | 2pm MT
Boulder, CO
Plays, parties, workshops and so much more. What better way to kick off spring than with a 3-day festival that includes all of the above. Join us for this live, in-person festival that puts you in rooms with the artists behind some of the most compelling new work being created today. Plus, you will have the opportunity to share feedback that will move these works one step closer to production.
Pop-up
lab
SEASON LONG
This season, independent new play workshops will take place across the United States including New York City and Denver.
The Lady M Project
Conceived by Anne Penner and Mare Trevathan
Written by Hadley Kamminga-Peck, Anne Penner, and Mare Trevathan
Directed by Mare Trevathan
Sunday, March 13, 2022
Livestreaming
(In-person tickets sold out!)
GET TICKETS
Maybe the Saddest Thing
Written by Harrison David Rivers
Directed by Josiah Davis
Friday, February 18, 2022
New York City
Presented in partnership with Roundabout Theatre Company | Available exclusively to Season 11 Members
Stockade*
Written by Andrew Rosendorf
Directed by Pesha Rudnick
Dramaturgy by Carlyn Aquiline
Date + Location: TBA
*Stockade is a thematic prequel to Andrew Rosendorf’s play Paper Cut
Playwright sponsors: Lari & Tom Abraham
237 Virginia Avenue
Written by David Myers
Directed by Pesha Rudnick
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Los Angeles
Presented in partnership with UCLA
Invitation-only event
Tap on headshots to meet the Local Lab 11 artists!
Spring lab
APRIL 22—24, 2022
DAIRY ARTS CENTER | BOULDER
Engage with some of the most exciting theater being created today with Local Theater Company’s Local Lab, Boulder’s premier 3-day festival of new American plays. Step inside the room with the theater makers for staged readings of four new works, gather with your fellow audience members for creative workshops and a number of social gatherings, including the Saturday night dance party.
The Local Lab 11 ALL-ACCESS PASS is your key to the full lineup of events: all four readings, post-show discussions, two parties including the Festival Kickoff at the home of Local’s Board Chair Jane Butcher and the Late Night Lab dance party at DV8, and the Co-Lab Creative Workshop on the final day of the festival. Step into the room to experience new works and participate in the creative process.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
EARTH DAY HIKE
Friday, April 22
8—9:30 am
@ Chautauqua Park
Baseline Rd & 9th Ave, Boulder, CO 80302
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS PASSHOLDERS
Let’s walk into the Local Lab weekend with clean air in our lungs and beautiful vistas in our minds. Artistic Director Pesha Rudnick and Local Lab 11 Co-Director Nick Chase lead a morning hike at the iconic Chautauqua Park for Local Lab company members and All Access Passholders. Although this hike is rated easy, we are at altitude so please bring plenty of water and wear hiking or gym shoes. Meet in front of the rangers office at 8am MT.
FESTIVAL KICK-OFF PARTY!
Friday, April 22
4:30—6 pm
The home of Local Theater Company Board Chair, Jane Butcher
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS PASSHOLDERS
Meet your fellow festival-goers, the playwrights, and the rest of the Lab teams as we kick off Spring Lab 11. There will be cocktails. There will be food. There will be fun.
ALL-ACCESS PASS PICKUP
Friday, April 22
6 pm
@ Dairy Arts Center - MAIN LOBBY
2590 Walnut Street, Boulder
The ALL-ACCESS PASS is your passport to the mainstage readings, the Late Night Lab afterparty, and all of the exciting post-show gatherings.
MAINSTAGE READING 1
You Enjoy Myself
Written by Topher Payne
Directed by Betty Hart
Friday, April 22
7 pm (doors open at 6:30)
@ Grace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts Center
ABOUT You Enjoy Myself
Judith and Eileen met and eagerly fell in love- first with a band called Phish, and then with each other. But that was thirty years ago, before their lives took notably divergent paths. An Instagram post from a stranger leads the two of them crashing back into each other, along with four young wayward souls who passionately want to be passionate about something. Over the course of one curious night at a remote Vermont farmhouse, they’ll each explore the nature of devotion- to music, to literature, to other people- and learn the art of “including your own hey.”
MAINSTAGE READING 2
The Lotus
presented in partnership with CU Boulder
Written by Esther Omegba
Directed by Lisa Marie Rollins
Saturday, April 23
2 pm (doors open at 1:30)
@ Grace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts Center
Playwright sponsor: Jane Butcher
ABOUT The Lotus
A poor, young girl and her sister attempt to take on a global computer supervirus with the help of a charming young boy. However, unforeseen circumstances threaten to derail their relationships and thwart their one chance at creating a cure to the supervirus.
MAINSTAGE READING 3
Goodnight Cowboy
Created and performed by Jody Kuehner, aka Cherdonna Shinatra
Saturday, April 23
6 pm (doors open at 5:30)
@ Grace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts Center
ABOUT Goodnight Cowboy
Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere. Inspired by the iconography of Margaret Wise Brown's beloved children's book Goodnight Moon blended with the zeitgeist of the spaghetti western, Cherdonna inhabits both space and screen to explore life and death, propaganda, toxic masculinity, soft endings, and how we invest our worlds with meaning.
LATE NIGHT LAB PARTY
Saturday, April 23
8—Close
@ DV8 (aka Deviant Spirits)
2480 49th st Suite E, Boulder, CO, 80301
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS PASSHOLDERS
All this exciting theater make you wanna dance? Good, because that’s what we’re gonna do. Gather with the playwrights, the Lab team, and your fellow All-Access Passholders at DV8 in east Boulder. Not one to hit the dance floor? We get it; sometimes you just want to relax. There will be space for all.
CO-LAB
Sunday, April 24,
12-1:30
@ Grace Gamm Theater
Dairy Arts Center
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS PASSHOLDERS
Step inside the lab and collaborate. The Local Lab team will lead a 90-minute creative exercise to inspire original writing and stories. No experience necessary.
MAINSTAGE READING 4
Affinity Lunch Minutes
Written by Nick Malakhow
Directed by Sabin Epstein
Sunday, April 24
2 pm (doors open at 1:30)
@ Grace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts Center
ABOUT Affinity Lunch Minutes
Ben and Jasmine are the only two Black teachers at Penn Valley, a private Quaker school. Jasmine is passionate and boundary pushing, while Ben has worked his way up the ranks at the school to be Diversity Dean thanks to his “agreeable” nature. A racially charged discipline decision ignites a divide at the school and in Jasmine and Ben’s collegial relationship.
pop-up lab
Stockade
Written by Andrew Rosendorf
Directed by Pesha Rudnick
Dramaturgy by Carlyn Aquiline
Date + Location TBA
Playwright sponsors: Lari & Tom Abraham
ABOUT Stockade
Before they’re deployed overseas to fight in World War II, six Americans from different backgrounds, cultures, hometowns, and races meet and become fast friends, drawn together by the one thing they have in common: they’re all gay. Despite fighting for freedom and human rights abroad, back home they’re viewed as a danger to society and as closet Communists, forcing them to live in the shadows to avoid anti-gay discrimination. Now, five years after the war has ended, the sister of their fallen buddy has gathered them for a reunion and a surprise that causes them to question whether history is best left in the past. At a time when “security risk” was code for “homosexual,” on the eve of the launch of Sputnik, it will take courage to step out of the shadows and launch something equally historic: a movement for gay rights.
PAST POP-UP labs
Maybe the Saddest Thing*
presented in partnership with Roundabout Theatre Company
Written by Harrison David Rivers
Directed by Josiah Davis
Friday, February 18, 2022 | 4 pm ET
Location: Roundabout Theatre Company
ABOUT Maybe the Saddest Thing
In a city in the South, Deshaun sells drugs, Frankie cleans hotel rooms and Noble makes sandwiches. They’re smart. Black. And stuck. Maybe the Saddest Thing is a play about that most American of phenomena – the rut – and what it takes to get out.
The Lady M Project
Conceived by Anne Penner and Mare Trevathan
Written by Hadley Kamminga-Peck, Anne Penner and Mare Trevathan
Directed by Mare Trevathan
Sunday, March 13, 2022 | 2 pm MT
Live Streaming
(In-person tickets sold out!)
GET TICKETS
ABOUT The Lady M Project
The Lady M Project tells Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the passionate, complex, loving and disturbed point of view of Lady Macbeth.
Need a refresher on Macbeth before experiencing The Lady M Project? Join us at 1:15 pm for coffee, mimosas, and a preshow presentation on the plot and characters of Macbeth, as well as the various interpretations of one of the play's most important figures—and inspiration for The Lady M Project—Lady Macbeth.
12:45pm—Doors open
1:15pm—Macbeth & Mimosas
2pm—Play begins
237 Virginia Avenue
presented in collaboration with UCLA
Written by David Myers
Directed by Pesha Rudnick
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Location: Los Angeles
Invitation-only event
ABOUT 237 Virginia Avenue
Starting in 1654 and traveling all the way to 2022, the play reckons with 400 years of history on one piece of property in Virginia. The story is told via an intimate relationship between a father and his son.
FALL LAB
DECEMBER 4-6, 2021
Location: Deviant Spirits (2480 49th St. Suite E, Boulder, CO) + Live Streaming
Clown Lung
Written by Steven San Luis (he/him)
Directed by Meghan Frank
Saturday, December 4, 2021 | 4pm MT
Location: Deviant Spirits (live, in-person) + live stream
ABOUT Clown Lung
Loosely based off the time he cried on a stage and people thought it was a performance, Clown Lung by Steven San Luis is a full length comedy that tells the story of a pizza delivery Boy who can't stop crying to save his life. The Boy journeys from his hometown by the sea to a depressing circus, and then to a lively funeral, and then to wherever else the train will take him, in search of an antidote that will dry his tears. Clown Lung is a drag show in which all of the wigs are two-thirds of a size too small. It’s the cotton candy crust on an all-American humble pie that reminds us that the real clown lung is the friends we make along the way.
Shells
Created by Nick Chase + Roslyn Hart
Writer/Director: Nick Chase
Shells: Roslyn Hart
Sunday, December 5, 2021 | 6pm MT
Location: Deviant Spirits (live, in-person) + live stream
ABOUT Shells
Michelle “Shells” Hoffman has had a revelation. In the midst of the pandemic, this JP Morgan Senior Analyst vowed to live her truth and become a cabaret sensation. Now, she’s hitting the road, weaving pop songs with tales of her life as a fabulously single NY woman-about-town. But when Scott, a man with whom she shared a night of intimacy and passion, is mentioned, the evening takes a much different course. Armed with a glass of shiraz and a penchant for drunk dialing, Shells is hell-bent on proving that she is living her best life.
Abuelas
A Bilingual Play
Written by Stephanie Alison Walker (she/her)
Translation by Paula Pizzi-Black
Directed by Gabriella Cavallero
Monday, December 6, 2021 | 6pm MT
Location: live stream
ABOUT Abuelas
Gabriela is an Argentine concert cellist living in Chicago with her American husband and adjusting to life as a new mom. Life is good - normal life worries - but good, until a visit from two strangers upends everything. This play, about the long and devastating repercussions of Argentina’s military dictatorship from 1976-1983, asks how one goes on after discovering their life is a lie? Does the restoration of truth bring freedom or suffering? Is it possible to integrate two identities into one life? The Abuelas explores these questions as well as the heart’s capacity for forgiveness even in the face of the harshest betrayal. Written as a companion play to THE MADRES, ABUELAS is a bilingual play in both English and Spanish.
MEET LOCAL LAB 11 CO-DIRECTORS NICK CHASE AND BETTY HART
Nick Chase and Betty Hart will work in concert with Artistic Director Pesha Rudnick in leading Local Lab 11.
Nick Chase (he/him)
Nick Chase is a writer/director who began his career at twenty-one, staging productions at a number of celebrated downtown New York venues including The Ohio, Galapagos, Fez and The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Following this, he was awarded a yearlong residency at the Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize-winning Public Theater/Joe’s Pub for his critically acclaimed theatrical series, SHELLS.
Betty Hart (she/her)
Betty Hart has acted in Local Lab and has facilitated audience conversatioons and salons for Local Theater Company. In 2020, Betty directed Josh Kroenig’s Vroom Vroom for Local Lab, which audiences never saw due to the theatre wide shut down. In June 2021, Betty directed the one person play An Iliad for Creede Repertory Theatre (CRT) and in spring, directed a virtual offering of To the Moon by Beth Kander for CRT as well. In spring of 2021, Betty directed an original devised theatrical film for the University of Northern Colorado called 2020 Speaks. Upcoming projects include directing Polaroid Stories for Metropolitan State University, By the way, Meet Vera Stark for the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Once on this Island for Town Hall Arts Center and Blackademics for Vintage Theatre. In November of 2020, Betty gave a Ted Talk on compassion culture instead of cancel culture. You can view the talk here: go.ted.com/bettyhart
Pesha Rudnick (she/her)
Pesha Rudnick is the founding artistic director of Local Theater Company in Boulder, CO, where she pursues the company’s mission to discover and develop new American plays. For Local Theater Company, Pesha directed twenty new works including the world premiere productions of Paper Cut (Colorado Theater Guild winner Best New Play) by Andrew Rosendorf, Discount Ghost Stories: Songs from the Rockies music and lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen, Book by Rob Wright and Pesha Rudnick; Elijah: An Adventure by Michael Mitnick (Colorado Theater Guild Nomination Best New Play), Faith by James McLindon (Colorado Theater Guild nomination Best New Play), The Firestorm by Meridith Friedman (Colorado Theater Guild nomination Best New Play). Pesha curated the digital series “Living Room Local” in 2020 and the past ten annual new play festivals, Local Lab.
COMPLETE BIO HERE
Local Lab 11 Reading Committee
Meet the dedicated team of skilled readers who review all Local Lab submissions. Over the course of four months, this team reviews all Lab submissions with care, helping determine selections for the Semi-Final and Final rounds.
What do we accept?
Un-produced, full-length plays, small-cast musicals and proposals for devised work. Proposals for devised work should include a brief description of the project and how the creator would utilize workshop resources, ideal collaborators, inspiration/source material.
When is the submission deadline?
Local Theater Company began accepting plays for consideration for Local Lab 11 on May 1, 2021. All considered submissions were received no later than 11:59pm mountain time on August 15, 2021.
Who may submit?
If you are a resident of a western state (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah), you can submit without an invitation. If you are a literary agent or manager, you may also submit up to three (3) new American plays, small-cast musicals or proposals. Please do NOT submit new drafts of previously submitted plays.
Is there an entry fee?
No. This is a program for playwrights and an opportunity for our community to participate in the play creation process.
How many per-playwright-scripts can I submit?
Just one per playwright, please.
Whom do I send the script to?
Send scripts to LabSubmissions@localtheaterco.org with a subject line: "Local Lab 2022 - New Play Submission."
Then what happens?
Local Theater Company’s reader committee will review the submitted works. Semi-finalists will be notified by September 15, 2021. Finalists will be notified by October 15, 2021.
The Local Lab 2022 reader committee includes: Nick Chase, Eryc Eyl, Rachel Fowler, Betty Hart, Sean Mallary, Rafael PlentyWolf, Pesha Rudnick, Heidi Schmidt and Jacob Welch.
Do you have a story to tell but have never written a play?
At Local, we celebrate Colorado storytellers and their stories. On Tuesdays, we hold open office hours from noon-1:30pm MT. If you have a story that you'd like to develop with us, this is the time to ask questions, seek feedback, and be in conversation with our team. Email nick@localtheaterco.org for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility Statement
Local Theater Company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons. All decisions regarding the terms, privileges, and/or conditions of employment, in cluding but not limited to hiring, classification, recruitment, discharge, compensation, placement, promotion, transfer, renewal of employment, tenure or terms, and benefits, will be made without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, an cestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, disability, military status, unfavorable dis charge from the military, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender, gender identity, housing status, parental status, source of income, certain arrest or criminal history records, genetic information, protected activity (such as opposition to or reporting of prohibited discrimination or harassment), or any other status or classification protected by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.
Local Theater Company will reasonably accommodate qualified employees with disabilities to allow them to perform the essential functions of their jobs. If you have any questions regarding discrimination or this policy, please contact Misha Zimmerman misha@LocalTheaterCo.org
“I had a wonderful time in Boulder. It was valuable to hear recent rewrites of the play aloud for the first time, and it was especially helpful to work with Rachel on the play prior to the Lab and get her insights.”
