(Press release)

Boulder, CO – Local Theater Company (LTC) announces the full Local Lab 13 (March 15-17, 2024 @ the Dairy Arts Center, Boulder) lineup. Local Lab features three staged readings of work in process by leading theater makers from across the country. In addition, the festival of new work provides audiences the opportunity to engage with the creators in post-show conversations, special workshops included a solo performance class presented by founding LTC company member Rachel Fowler, and social gatherings.

Beth Henley (Pulitzer Prize winner, Crimes of the Heart) will kick off the festival on Friday, March 15, 7:30 pm MT, with her new play, The Unbuttoning. This 3-hander, directed by LTC Founding Artistic Director Pesha Rudnick, is described as a Blue Ridge fantasia filled with secrets that unbutton, unravel, and reveal dark truths. Henley is noted for her southern gothic style that focuses on the inner lives of women.

Andrew Rosendorf (Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award, Best Play, Paper Cut, 2018) returns to LTC with Stockade on Saturday, 7:30 pm MT. This play, created with Carlyn Aquiline and directed by LTC Co-Artistic Director Nick Chase, finds a group of gay soldiers reuniting on Fire Island five years after the end of WWII. Set at the height of the Lavender Scare, a period in US history when government workers were dismissed for being (or being perceived) as homosexual, Stockade looks at the consequences of living openly as well as living in secret, and the devastating effects of the government’s actions. Rosendorf’s work One Shot will be featured at DCPA’s Colorado New Play Summit in February 2024.

Michelle Tyrene Johnson (Edgar R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Radio) joins Local Lab on Sunday, March 17, 1 pm MT, with her play, Chasing Breadcrumbs. This work, directed by LTC Co-Artistic Director Betty Hart, follows Serena, a playwright navigating a minefield of Karens and creative compromises to discover what she really wants: to write her own story.

Nick Chase said, “Lab is the cornerstone of Local Theater Company. It’s a chance for us to support the development of exciting new theatrical works, and pull back the curtain for our audiences to see how plays are made. The conversations between artists and audiences only strengthen the work.”

In addition to these three staged readings, Local Lab 13 will feature two social events (Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16), a Creative Non-Fiction Solo Performance Workshop with Rachel Fowler (Saturday, March 16, 11 am – 2 pm), a playwrights panel (Sunday, March 17), a Democracy Cycle gathering (Saturday, March 16, 2:30 – 4:30 pm). The Democracy Cycle is a collaboration, supported by the Arts in Society grant, between LTC, Curious Theatre Company and Gunnison Valley Theatre Festival that gathers community members for story circles. Playwrights observe these circles and create short plays inspired by the conversations. The collected plays will be presented in the summer of 2024 in Boulder, Denver and Gunnison along with community gatherings in each area.

FULL LAB 13 SCHEDULE
Location: The Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder CO 80302 (Grace Gamm Theater)
Dates: March 15 – 17, 2024
Tickets:
All-Access Passes – $99 (https://ci.ovationtix.com/36653/production/1170260)
Individual Reading Tickets – $30 (localtheaterco.org/lab13)

Note: Individual tickets go on sale February 19, 2024

FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2024

Local Lab 13 Kick-Off Party
6 – 7:15, Dairy Arts Center Lobby (available to All-Access Passholders)

Reading One: The Unbuttoning, by Beth Henley, directed by Pesha Rudnick 7:30, Grace Gamm Theater @ Dairy Arts Center

SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2024

Creative Non-Fiction Solo Performance Workshop with Rachel Fowler 11 am – 2 pm, Dairy Arts Center

Democracy Cycle Story Circle with playwright Nick Malakhow 2:30 – 4:30 pm, Dairy Arts Center

Reading Two: Stockade, by Andrew Rosendorf, directed by Nick Chase 7:30, Grace Gamm Theater @ Dairy Arts Center

Saturday Night Soiree
Directly following Reading Two. Location TBA

SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2024

Reading Three: Chasing Breadcrumbs, by Michelle Tyrene Johnson, directed by Betty Hart 1 pm, Grace Gamm Theater @ Dairy Arts Center

Playwright’s Panel
2:30 pm, Grace Gramm Theater @ Dairy Arts Center

ABOUT LOCAL THEATER COMPANY

Local Theater Company (Local) is a nonprofit professional theater company that discovers, develops, and produces new American plays. Local engages audiences through innovative performances that spark camaraderie, learning, and contemplation and provides a resourceful environment for theater artists to take creative risks and develop their work. Local believes theater is a local experience. When you enter an audience, a new community is created where, for that brief span of time, everyone is a local. Learn more at localtheaterco.org.