TO APPLY.YOU MAY ONLY APPLY TO ONE DISCIPLINE PER LAB CYCLE.
WP Theater is looking for early to mid-career playwrights, directors, and producers, who crave an artistic home, a cohort of collaborators, professional support, and the resources to launch them into the next phase of their careers to be a part of the Heidi Thomas Initiative WP Theater Lab.
The Lab provides up to fifteen artists with community, a vital professional network, entrepreneurial and leadership skills, free rehearsal space, and, most significantly, tangible opportunities for the development of bold new work for the stage.Applications are open January 12 – February 20, 2026.
Is the Lab the right fit for you?
The Lab is for early to mid career theater professionals, who are eager to deepen their understanding of how to develop new work, using collaboration skills while also learning how to best leverage given resources.As a director, this program is for you if you have an appetite for play, a commitment to dramaturgy in the early stages of a work’s development, and you look forward to crafting stories with a new team of artists. This program is for you, if you are looking to join a community of directors at a similar stage of their career and excited for seasoned mentors to share industry knowledge, resources, and skills.As a producer, this program is for you if you enjoy working in teams, imagining new systems of storytelling, and are eager to build those systems with others. This program is for you if you have an appetite for creating balance between the resources a story needs in order to be told and the tangible/ financial resources of the production.
As a writer, this program is for you if you crave dramaturgical input and creative collaboration both from a director and producer, and if you’re ready to collaborate with storytellers in other mediums to deepen your work. This program is for you, if you’re looking for practical skills in how to strategically and holistically develop your work.
LAB STRUCTURE:
Meetings:
The lab consists of two monthly meetings–one full Lab meeting for all three cohorts on the first Monday evening of the month, and a separate, discipline-specific meeting, usually on the second Monday of the month. These meetings are mandatory, and attendance at all meetings is the optimum means to get the most out of your Lab experience.
You will be given the full Lab meeting and Pipeline Festival schedule at the time of your interview, if you advance to the finalist round..
Year One:
Participants will spend the first six months of the lab engaging in cohort- building activities to allow the artists to get to know one another as individuals and artistic practitioners, including collaboration work, skills-building, and career strategy sessions. It is imperative that participants prioritize attendance in these monthly lab meetings, as multiple absences will result in participants missing key building components that would prevent them from gaining the most from the lab experience.
In the second half of the first year, we will sort the Lab into writer/director/producer pods, and devote significant time to building the bonds and collaborative skills within each pod.
Year Two/Pipeline Festival:
Each pod will spend the remainder of the lab developing a new work together that will culminate in a showing in the Pipeline Festival reading series. The goal of the festival is to give producers, directors, and playwrights the collaborative tools to successfully develop new work in the theater industry. The resulting Pipeline Festival reading series will present this new work to New York audiences and industry professionals. The producers, in partnership with directors and writers, will shape the festival based on the artistic development needs of each project, with budgetary and in-house physical resources from WP, under the AEA 29 Hour Reading Guidelines.
If you have specific questions, please email wplab[at]wptheater.org after reading the Frequently Asked Questions section below. No phone calls, or emailed applications please.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY:
- Must be an artist living within 90 minutes of WP Theater via car or rail.
- Must be able to attend evening meetings at WP Theater twice a month from October 2026 to May 2028, as well as other events throughout the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 seasons, such as previews, performances, retreats, and other special events at WP.
- Must be available for the 2026 Pipeline Festival (March – May, 2028).
- Regular attendance is mandatory and therefore applicants should view the program as a two-year-long commitment. Lab meetings will be in person.
- Must not currently be in an undergraduate program.
- Must be aged 21 or over.
- Must be available for either an in person or virtual interview.
THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS WILL:
- Receive a stipend of $4,000 on salary, for each year of Lab participation ($8,000 total).
- Participate in a monthly full lab meeting led by WP Artistic Staff and Lab Liaisons.
- Participate in a monthly discipline-specific meeting led by a mentor in their field.
- Participate in events and conversations led by established artists and leaders in the field.
- Receive complimentary tickets to WP shows, invited dress rehearsals and other special events.
- Receive artistic support and professional development guidance from the artistic staff.
- Participate in The Pipeline Festival, a reading series of five new plays, written, directed and produced by the WP Lab, to be presented in the spring of the second year of the residency.
- Receive access to WP’s rehearsal space at no cost, when space is not in use
For further clarification of Requirements for Eligibility, please see the Frequently Asked Questions section below.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
All applicants must submit the following:
- Current resume or CV
- One page statement or video (5 minutes or less) that describes your artistic vision. Video (max 5 minutes) of you speaking, telling us who you are as an artist, your artistic vision, and the specific processes behind it. Help us understand who you are as a theatermaker!
- One short essay answer detailing why being a part of the Lab is useful to you at this moment in your career.
- One short essay answer describing how you approach new collaborations and what meaningful artistic collaboration means to you.
- A list of 3 professional references, including title/affiliation, phone and email.
Playwrights:
In a separate PDF, the full length script most representative of your work.
- The play must be at least 60 pages long, and must be a completed draft, though it need not be a final draft.
- You may also include a link to your website, or other online resources.
Directors:
- Share an image or video sample of your work that represents a moment you are proud of. Please share a description of why this moment is meaningful to you.
- A list of upcoming productions, workshops, readings and other projects with dates, venues, and your role.
- You may also include a link to your website, or other online resources.
- ProducersA list of upcoming productions, workshops, readings and other projects with dates, venues, and your role.
- You may also include a link to your website, or other online resources.
- Production Videos/Photos – You may provide up to 3 short videos or photos of recent work. Additional materials should not exceed 3 pages and may include reviews (no excerpts) and photos with descriptions.
- Hard copy applications will not be accepted.
- Emailed applications will not be accepted.
All materials will be reviewed by a panel of theater professionals.
For further clarification of materials required for application, please see the Frequently Asked Questions Section below.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What kind of conflicts would make me ineligible?
We accept that every artist will miss one or two meetings, but if you know now that you will be missing more than two meetings during the lab dates, you should not apply. Applicants should view the program as a two-year-long commitment. We will only accept applicants who can take full advantage of the program.
I’m not available for an in-person interview—may I still apply?
We will be conducting in person interviews, but may be able to interview applicants virtually if needed. If you have a limited conflict in regards to attending twice monthly meetings, please make note of such conflicts in your application. We will try to accommodate such situations on a case-by-case basis.
When will the monthly meetings be held?
We will provide a schedule of meetings for finalists at the interview, so you need not worry about this question at the application stage.
If I am selected for the group and then my eligibility status changes, would I be automatically suspended from the program?
No, we will handle this situation on a case-by-case basis. Please do not let such a concern keep you from applying.
What kind of resume should I submit?
Your resume should list all readings, workshops or productions. Your resume should also include any other relevant theater experience.
If I can’t decide between two plays or have an additional writing sample that I am very proud of, may I include more than one play with my application?
No, we only read one play per applicant, so please only submit one writing sample. Submit the sample that you are the most excited to share with our readers.
May I send in music along with the book of my musical?
Please do, and give credit to the composer and lyricist.
Is there an age limit? Are you looking for young writers?
We ask that applicants be 21 and older, but beyond that, there is no age limit. We would be glad to admit a talented artist of any age into the program. The program is meant to support early and mid-career artists, but artists may begin their careers at any age.
Will you let me know that you received my application?
Yes, we will email you once we have processed your application.
May I follow-up with you about my application status?
Yes, please email wplab[at]wptheater.org.
If I have had some contact with a WP staff member, would it be better to contact them directly with my question rather than write to wplab[at]wptheater.org?
No, please write to wplab[at]wptheater.org, but feel free to mention any contact with a WP staff member in your email.
Thank you for your interest in the Lab—we look forward to your application!
Apply here for the Lab! Application deadline is February 20 at 11:59 pm ET.
