In The Lab
March 2023
In The Lab supports artists in developing experimental new works in a multitude of forms. Playwrights’ Center launched this development and performance project series in 2020 to meet the changing needs of artists exploring new theater pieces — and new ways of working.
The innovative program features two writers who will create, explore, test, and try, try again, as they push the boundaries of form and content. Audience members are invited into the experiment for an open rehearsal presentation followed by a conversation with the artists on the process.
The world continues to shift and churn, and so does theater-making. We’re excited to support the continued revolutionizing of theatrical storytelling.
THE SPEED OF LIFE
by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen
In person only: Friday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.
This is a play about how time moves. How it moves around us, sweeping us into its raging river, and how it sweeps through us, sweeping our lives up into the dustbin of death. If we are aware of the speed of time, can we step outside the raging of its river, and if we could, would we want to?
THE USSES
by Drew Paryzer
In person only: Friday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m.
The Usses (working title) is a “playable play” about a group of hunter-gatherers at the dawn of agriculture, and the fluctuating relationships they forge with the natural world—which is itself “played” by audience members wearing interactive VR headsets. The Usses explores how new ideas influence and change our environment, our relationships, and our potential futures…by conjuring a moment in time when almost anything was possible.