DG National Report: Florida - East by Michael McKeever
Lou Tyrrell is not only a well-respected South Florida Theater icon, he is - and always has been - a great champion of exciting, thought-provoking theater. Tyrrell’s reputation for finding, nurturing and producing new work has garnered him a national reputation. Playwrights like Steven Dietz, Deborah Zoe Laufer, Lauren Gunderson and Israel Horovitz will speak of him with admiration and gratitude. So it was exciting news when he was named Artistic Director of Theatre Lab, a brand new professional resident company taking up residence at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. The company runs out of an intimate 120-seat theater on the university’s campus and offers a series of new programing that is informative, provocative and thoroughly engaging. Here’s a sampling:
Making Musicals. A concert/play-reading series exploring new work in American Musical Theater, The program presents staged readings of brand new work by up and coming writers and composers. Helmed by Mr. Tyrell and Musical Director Caryl Fantel, each reading will be performed by both professional actors and FAU students. New work by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen, Drew Farnarola and Scott Elmegreen, and Jessica Thebus, Andre Pluess and Amanda Dehnert has already been presented to full houses.
Play Slam. A weekly series of staged readings of new work presented on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm. The evening includes post-reading discussions led by experts on the issues addressed in the plays. Scholars from the University and community join the director and cast to engage the audience and explore the topics presented in that night’s play. Deborah Zoe Laufer, Tammy Ryan, Stephen Sachs and Bess Wohl are just some of the playwrights whose work has already been presented.
The Playwrights’ Forum. After a cast of professional South Florida actors and FAU students perform a staged reading of their work, established playwrights such as Israel Horovitz, Deborah Zoe Laufer, and John Guare will take to the stage to talk about the presented plays and how and why they wrote them. It’s an illuminating, yet casual, way to understand how some of the country’s most respected playwrights bring their work to life. Simply put, it’s a mini-master class by A-list theater professionals.
Theatre Lab’s New Play Festival. Over the course of five jam-packed days, Theater Lab hosts some of the nation’s most prominent playwrights as they each present a staged reading of their newest work. Accompanying each reading is a post-show talk back, presenting the audience with an opportunity to interact with each playwright, discussing their process and inspiration. Free readings of original work by student playwrights are also presented, giving young writers their first taste of having their work presented in front of a live audience. The festival culminates with a keynote address by a nationally renowned playwright and a panel of some of the country’s most respected dramatists, discussing new-play development and various topics vital to the current state of the American Theatre. Previous panelists include Allison Gregory, Steven Dietz, Carter Lewis, Christopher Demos-Brown and Jennifer Lane. Last season’s keynote speaker was Marsha Norman.
The Future PAGES Project. Led by Matt Stabile, Theatre Lab’s Associate Artistic Director, and supported by the Heckscher Foundation for Children, this program is designed to nurture the critical thinking and communication skills of young people. Using theatre as a catalyst, the program works in conjunction with the Theatre Lab’s play reading series, choosing themes from the selected plays that are relevant to the lives of today’s youth. Each year, partnering with local schools, the company provides a six-week intensive workshop for chosen students, culminating in the presentation of the students’ original work as a part of Theatre Lab’s New Play Festival. These workshops and performances are presented at NO COST to students.
As the region’s theater landscape continues to evolve and change, it’s gratifying to know that new companies like Theatre Lab will keep the bar high by presenting programs that not only educate and enlighten, but provoke and challenge. For more information on Theatre Lab, email theatrelab@fau.edu.
