The heart of WP’s artistic programming is its free, two-year Lab for early to midcareer playwrights, directors, and producers. It is a vibrant community providing opportunities to network, brainstorm, test ideas, make new connections, and envision bold new work for the stage.
Truly, the WP Lab is about creating an artistic home for members, a place to share work, hone craft, receive coaching, ask advice, and create a platform to show the breadth and depth of women in the theater.
WP is deeply committed to providing its Lab artists and alumnae with real production opportunities. The majority of WP’s most recent mainstage and Hothouse productions have been written or directed by WP Lab members and alumnae, including work by Liz Duffy Adams, Lear deBessonet, Liz Diamond, Anne Kauffman, Carson Kreitzer, Pam MacKinnon, Wendy McClellan, Rebecca Patterson, Peggy Stafford, Saviana Stanescu, Daniella Topol, Joy Tomasko, Kathryn Walat, and Meiyin Wang. Beyond WP, Katori Hall's The Mountaintop has been staged in the West End, London; Bekah Brunstetter's Oohrah! appeared this season at the Atlantic Theater; Maria Goyanes produced The Bacchae in Central Park for the Public; and Meredith McDonough was appointed Director of New Works at TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theater of Silicon Valley.
During their two-year residency, all Lab members attend monthly meetings from September-May, which are held in Women's Project's rehearsal studio in Manhattan. Meetings involve varying activities: a conversation about selected plays, a salon on a hot issue such as global warming, a discussion with theater professionals on a specific aspect of artistic or career development, pitch coaching, and networking. In addition, Lab members are expected to see the work of their Lab colleagues at WP and beyond.
The application deadline for the 2010-2012 Lab has passed--new members will be announced in July 2010. Click below to meet the current Lab members, in residency from September 2008-June 2010.
PLAYWRIGHTS LAB
Founded in 1994, the Playwrights Lab helps members to develop new work in a productive environment. Lab Playwrights meet monthly under the direction of Megan Carter, Associate Artistic Director and Dramaturg, to hear their work read aloud and receive feedback (these meetings are held in addition to the collective meeting described above).
"Women's Project was my first theatrical home in New York and it gave me a safe space to develop my voice and my craft. But the relationship goes beyond development, here women are heard, here women roar." Katori Hall, WP Lab 2006-2008, NYSCA Playwright-in-Residence in 2008.
“Women's Project truly nurtures its Lab members and has a keen eye on their development as artists. They bring in panelists for seminars, Q&As -- these have helped me hone in on and fine tune skills, like how to market myself, pitch a project I'm stoked about, and clearly / confidently articulate my ideas. It's pretty inspiring to be in the room with so many driven, successful gals!” Bekah Brunstetter, WP Lab 2008-2010
click here for current Lab playwrights
click
here for 2006-2008 playwrights
click here for 2004-2006
playwrights
"It is a rare and wonderful feeling to be in
a collaborative room with fellow directors. The Directors Lab is not
a place where people are vying for opportunities - it is truly about
learning from one another - and creating a community for the exchange
of ideas. And the partnership with the Playwrights Lab is ideal! I
have met some wonderfully passionate and creative writers, and I am
confident that we will all continue to cook up some great projects
and collaborations with one another in years to come."
- Daniella Topol, WP Lab 2004-2008, director of WP's mainstage production of Sand in 2008.
click here for current Lab directors
click
here for 2006-2008 directors
click
here for 2004-2006 directorsPRODUCERS LAB
Established in September 2006, Producers Lab members work to extend the influence of women theater artists. Armed with practical tools and powerful connections, Producers Lab members are empowered to advance specific theatrical projects and special events at WP and beyond. The Producers Lab is founded on a firm belief in the power of creative producing, and strives to make its members equally at home analyzing plays and financial statements.
"I am incredibly proud to have been a part of the inaugural Producers
Lab at Women's Project. What a network of talented people! To sit in a room every month and share everything from nitty gritty practical knowledge to our largest ambitions for the field, and then to get to put everything into practice and actually PRODUCE for Women's Project at the World Financial Center was an extraordinary and important experience for me. The Lab's potential is astounding! --Maria Goyanes, WP Lab 2006-2008, producer of WP's Girls Just Wanna Have Funds in 2007.
click
here for current producers
click here for 2006-2008 producers |
