LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) Lab Playwright Residency
LPAC is located on a college campus of 50,000 full-time enrolled and adult continuing education students from 163 different countries and is a part of the vibrant and multicultural neighborhood of Western Queens. It is committed to being an "inclusive" performing arts center, which has a unique and exciting audience base and two world-class theaters to offer artists for the development and showcasing of their works. We are now probing deeper into the NYC talent pool for artists that need to be seen. Not everyone has a venue, and the LPAC Lab New Play Development Residency, part of the LPAC Lab, fosters the development of new plays by offering: a creative home; a stage; a rehearsal room; skilled technicians to develop original works-in-progress; connections to actors and directors; and a potential production. While we are happy to provide support to work with professional actors, we also have the distinct position of being able to connect playwrights with the diverse body of student actors on campus. Because of the great diversity of the student body, we are particularly interested in working on plays about young people from diverse backgrounds. For the 2014-15 residency, we are looking to present two plays about Muslim identity (though the writers do not necessarily have to identify as Muslim). Given the nature of the residency, plays should be in the early conception or writing stages.
WHAT WE OFFER PLAYWRIGHT RESIDENTS:
-An artistic home for eight months (September 2014-April 2015)
-Development/mentorship from the Residency Manager, with regular meetings and deadlines, modeled after the playwright's specific needs
-A workshop of the play during the spring Rough Draft Festival (March 27-April 3, 2015), with at least 20 hours of rehearsal time plus an additional 10 hours of tech with a professional tech crew
-Access to a community of student and professional actors, as well as professional directors if needed
-A travel honorarium for the artistic team
-Consideration for a full production of the play (up to seven performances), to be determined at the end of the residency
REQUIREMENTS:
-The purpose of this Residency is to develop a new full-length play.
We seek two playwrights who view the Residency as an exciting opportunity to engage with a multi-cultural student body in an academic environment.
-Playwrights must be working on a play that reflects Muslim identity or issues, though the two writers do not necessarily have to identify as Muslim
-Playwrights must live in the NYC area
-Playwrights must commit to bi-weekly joint meetings with the
Residency Manager, providing and receiving feedback on each other's plays, in anticipation of the Rough Draft Festival in April
SUBMISSION PROCESS:
Please email LPACLabResidency@gmail.com with: 1) no more than a
1-page statement describing the project you would like to work on in the Lab and why this residency is important for your work on this play; 2) a 15-page writing sample; and 3) a brief bio. Deadline: August 17, 2014 by 5pm. Finalists will be contacted for a brief phone interview prior to September 1st.
TIMELINE:
September-December, 2014: Bi-weekly meetings with Residency Manager discussing pages in progress. (Location TBA.) This will primarily be a dramaturgical discussion, though an onsite table read with actors is also possible.
January-March, 2015: Bi-weekly workshopping at LPAC's theatre in Long Island City. We will find directors to experiment with pages on their feet.
April 2015: Each play will be given rehearsal and tech time with a director and actors in the Little Theatre, culminating in a workshop presentation. At LPAC's discretion, one or both plays may be selected for a full production.
