Local Lab 2019
local lab 12
BOULDER’S PREMIER NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
April 27 - 30, 2023
The Dairy Arts Center | Boulder, CO
LOCAL LAB INCLUDES
4 staged readings of new American plays
Audience engagement events including post-show conversations & workshops
Kick-off and Late Night Lab parties
And more…
WHAT IS LOCAL LAB?
In short, Local Lab is a festival of new theatrical work. Local Theater Company discovers and develops world-premiere plays, small-cast musicals, hybrid and devised theater pieces through Local Lab. Selected project creators are invited to Boulder, CO in April, 2023 and provided the resources to conduct a workshop of their material, offering them a forum to explore, develop and strengthen their work in collaboration with other theater artists. At the conclusion of the workshop, the material is presented to you, our community, followed by a curated post-show conversation that moves new work toward full production.
Local Lab is sponsored by
and
John Lithgow
LAB 12 READINGS
CO-LAB DAILY IS BACK!
Everyone has a story to share. As part of Local Lab 12, every morning from Wednesday, April 26 to Saturday, April 30, we'll send a creative prompt to your email inbox (it will also be published on this web page). Take 5 minutes or all day to respond. Then, share with our community (anonymously, if you prefer) by following the instructions in the email or entering it in the form field that will be below. We'll be posting your creative works here and on the big screen at the Dairy all Lab weekend long. No over-thinking, no judgment, all forms of expression (prose, poetry, drawing, dance, music, photography, you show us...) welcome.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
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FESTIVAL KICK-OFF PARTY! | 5-7PM
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS OR THURSDAY DAY PASS PASSHOLDERSMeet your fellow festival-goers, the playwrights, and the rest of the Lab teams as we kick off Local Lab 12. There will be drinks. There will be food. There will be fun.
WeWork Lounge | 1st Floor
2755 Canyon Blvd
Boulder, CO 80302MAINSTAGE READING 1 | 7:30PM
Great Bends
Written by Sarah Léo Powers
Directed by Cecilia J. Pang
Great Bends is presented in collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Dance at CU as part of our playwright mentorship program. The play explores the profound grief of lives lost and relationships strengthened in the face of climate change. Throughout one night in Great Bend County, Kansas, relationships are tested through debates regarding career choices, childbearing, and ethics, in preparation for an unpredictable future. In this dystopian future not too unlike our own, sacrifice, love, and the bends we take for one another may be what saves us all.Grace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts Center -
MAINSTAGE READING 2 | 7:30PM (doors open at 7)
The World is Not Silent
Written by Don X. Nguyen
Directed by Marya MazorGrace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts CenterDau, a Vietnamese immigrant living in Nebraska, hopes to match his son, Don, with a nice Vietnamese woman. When an unexpected guest arrives at their Thanksgiving dinner, the plan is set in motion in this hilarious and tender play. The World Is Not Silent examines barriers–linguistic, generational, cultural–and proves that they can be surmounted.
The World Is Not Silent was originally commissioned by East West Players (Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai)
The World Is Not Silent received a reading in the Alley Theatre’s 2022 Alley All New Festival Rob Melrose, Artistic Director Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director
A workshop of The World Is Not Silent was presented by New York Stage and Film, Summer 2022
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BONUS READING | 3:00PM (doors open at 2:30)
”I Want to Be Alive”
The Transcript of a NY Times article by Kevin Roose
Directed by Pesha Rudnick
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS OR SATURDAY DAY PASS PASSHOLDERSA compelling reading of a NEW YORK TIMES story in which journalist Kevin Roose carries on a conversation with Bing’s chatbot brought to life by Betty Hart and Nick Chase, directed by Pesha Rudnick. Read the compelling article here.
MAINSTAGE READING 3 | 6:30PM (doors open at 6)
The Agency
Written by Lia Romeo
Directed by Rodney LizcanoGrace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts CenterAni, a struggling actor, has scored a high-paying acting gig, although it’s anything but typical. In this dystopian comedy, clients hire her to play people with whom they have unresolved issues. Being an emotional surrogate helping others work through challenges is initially rewarding, but the lines between character and human soon blur.
LATE NIGHT LAB PARTY | 8:00PM
DV8 (aka Deviant Spirits)
2480 49th St. Suite E, Boulder, 80301
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS OR SATURDAY DAY PASS PASSHOLDERSAll 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.
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MAINSTAGE READING 4 | 12PM (doors open at 11:30)
Cris Leaves Queens
Written by Adriana Santos
Directed by Ilasiea Gray
A family-run funeral home in Queens comes under threat from an incoming snow storm, forcing twin sisters Cris and Dani, their father and a guest to come face to face with what’s been haunting them, along with several other quirky undead.Grace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts CenterPLAYWRIGHTS PANEL | 3PM (doors open at 2:30)
AVAILABLE TO ALL-ACCESS OR SUNDAY DAY PASS PASSHOLDERSGrace Gamm Theater,
Dairy Arts Center
“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.”
IN THE NEWS
WESTWORD
”Local Lab 12 Examines Climate Change, Vietnamese Sign Language, Family-Run Funeral Homes and More”
by Toni Tresca
DAILY CAMERA
Local Lab gives playwrights a creative boost with staged readings at the Dairy
by Ella Cobb
ONSTAGE COLORADO
Featuring an interview with Local Theater Company’s Pesha Rudnick, Betty Hart and Nick Chase
by Alex Miller
Local Lab Finalists
Melis Aker - Indigo Dreams
Kori Alston - A Case for Black Girls Setting Central Park on Fire
Jami Brandli - O: A Rhapsody in Divorce
Alicia Carroll - #BecklandIsCanceled
Gloria Majule - Culture Shock
Jeff Neuman - Road to Lethe
Jasmine Sharma - Cancelled/Cancel Me
Mike Solomonson - The Booth Toll
Marty Strenczewilk - Master Plan
Collin Van Son - Natural History
Local Lab 12 Semi-Finalists
Doc Andersen-Bloomfield - Dear Viggo and the Blue Haired Woman
Terence Anthony - Godspeed
Landon Ashworth & Jason Pelsey - To the Moon
Eliza Bent - Rack Up
Becca Blackmore - The Thomas Hardy Project
Tom Bruett - The Nesting Instinct
Megan Chan Meinero - Hells Canyon
Sam Chanse - Trigger
Martin Daly - The Death of Maggie Finn
Joseph Dougherty - While Round Thee Melody Flows
Mathilde Dratwa - Dirty Laundry
Mykai Eastman - Snowball
Eryc Eyl & Jeff Campbell - The Immunes
Kareem Fahmy - Pareidolia
Grace Hazen - Seven Minutes
Marisa D Hebert - High Yellow
Jessica Huang - Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying
Chloé Hung - Alien of Extraordinary Ability
Stephen Lloyd Helper - Up and Down
Dano Madden - Beautiful American Soldier
Sarah Mantell - Fight Call
Vicki Meagher - Say Yes to Tootlebritches
August Mergelman - On Such a Night
Antonia Merzon - Around the Circle: A Bluegrass Story
Laura Neill - Lilith: Maria
Ross Peter Nelson - Les Chiens Errant
Frank Oteri - El Trastorno de Pasadilla
Rick Padden - The Man in Lucy Ann
Brian Quirk - Warren (or) Those People
Ro Reddick - Throwback Island
Eric Reyes Loo - Death and Cockroaches
Straton Rushing - Enferma
Ryan Sprague - The Soldier's Daughter
Ariel Stess - Score
Travis Tate - Your Maximum Potential
Amy Tofte - Righteous Among Us
Brett D. Wolfe - Tumor
Deborah Yarchun - Great White
Local Lab 12 Reading Committee
Meet the dedicated team of skilled readers who review all Local Lab submissions.
MEET LOCAL LAB 12 ARTISTIC TEAM
Betty Hart (she/her)
Co-Artistic Director, New Plays & Community Engagement
Betty Hart is an actor, director, and facilitator who moved from Atlanta to Denver in fall 2013. Betty has acted in Local Lab, and has facilitated audience conversations and salons for Local Theater Company since 2015. In 2020, Betty directed Josh Kroenig’s Vroom Vroom for Local Lab, which audiences never saw due to the theatre wide shut down. In 2021-22, Betty became co-director of Local Lab 11, Local Theater Company’s new play festival.
In the 2021-22 season, Betty directed Blackademics (Vintage Theatre), Once on this Island (Town Hall Arts Center), By the way, Meet Vera Stark (Fine Arts Center at Colorado College), Polaroid Stories (Metropolitan State University), and the one person play, An Iliad (Creede Repertory Theatre).
COMPLETE BIO HERE
Pesha Rudnick (she/her)
Founding Artistic Director
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
Nick Chase (he/him)
Co-Artistic Director, Production & Education
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.
“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!”
