PLAYLAB CLASS OF 2019 APPLICATION
Through a year-long series of monthly meetings, the PlayLab (in NYC) serves as a developmental process for playwrights to build new plays with constructive feedback from fellow writers, directors, and the artistic staff of Pipeline. Each PlayLab playwright will develop a full-length play over the course of the season.
PlayLab playwrights commit to participate in the following programs:
- Monthly Meetings (July 8, August 19, September 9, October 21, November 18, December 9, January 6, February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, June 9)* – All PlayLab playwrights and the artistic team of Pipeline will be in attendance.
- Pop-Up Office Days – Over the course of the season, Pipeline will host a series of Pop-Up Office days for PlayLabbers to all get in one room and write side-by-side.
- Kick-Off Event (August/September 2018) – A “get to know you” event for the PlayLabbers, the Pipeline staff, and the Pipeline ensemble. Each PlayLabber will share a few pages from the play they’ll be working on over the coming year.
- Springboards (3 throughout the season, dates TBD) – “In-progress” workshops throughout our year together. PlayLabbers are given dedicated time, space, and collaborators (including members of our ensemble and community) throughout the season to explore specific questions related to their play development and tailored to the needs of the writer and the material.
- Annual Retreat (May 10-12, 2019*) – Each playwright will attend the Pipeline annual retreat, during which each developed full-length play will be given its first cold reading.
- Week of Extraordinary Risk (June 2019): Each playwright will write a full-length play to be presented as part of the Week of Extraordinary Risk reading series in June.
- PlayLab playwrights are also expected to attend Pipeline events throughout our tenth season. PlayLabbers will play an active role in the 2019 Gala as champions of Pipeline, to speak to their experience to the greater Pipeline community.
*Dates subject to change.
Who Should Apply?
In line with our vision, we are looking for artists who are excited to collaborate with Pipeline and fellow playwrights in developing plays that create imaginative new worlds and use bold and inventive methods to transport audiences. We like big dreamers, working to figure out a project in the earliest stages of incubation. We want to make something from scratch with you, so are interested in hearing about your spark of an impossible idea that we can help you grow into a big courageous new play.
The PlayLab works at a rigorous pace, so we’re also looking for energetic and ambitious artists who are excited to roll up their sleeves and get to work with us and who are interested in having a year long commitment to explore, discover, collaborate, and grow.
Special effort and attention is paid to building a dynamic, diverse cohort and community. We encourage playwrights of all races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, physical presentation, and educational and professional backgrounds to apply.
Our vision: we believe that an unbridled imagination is a force of magic with the power to provoke a more courageous and compassionate world.
Got questions about our mission and vision and if your work aligns with ours? We suggest you first familiarize yourself with our production history (specifically work produced from 2012 onward) as well as the work being developed in this year’s PlayLab. Still have questions? Contact our Director of Artistic Development, Tom Costello.
What to Expect
PlayLab playwrights meet once a month to review pages of their projects with one another through cold readings and dramaturgical discussion. Additionally, PlayLabbers will participate in our Springboard Events – 3 short workshops (tailored to the writer’s specific needs) where they will collaborate with members of the Pipeline community to dig deeply in specific questions pertaining to their plays.
We strive to build a strong sense of community within our PlayLab, so each month the meeting travels to a different PlayLab or Pipeline artistic team member’s home, often the host provides food for the group (reimbursed by Pipeline). PlayLab playwrights should be excited to work within a collaborative group atmosphere, and enjoy providing one another with constructive feedback.
Throughout the season, Pipeline’s artistic team will work with each writer to determine ideal goals and writing deadlines to help maintain steady progress leading towards the readings.
Members of the PlayLab are part of the Pipeline family for the year, and as such, are expected to attend our retreat in May, where company members and playwrights will get a chance to together read through PlayLab playwrights’ full drafts, get away from the city for some dedicated writing time, and probably play Capture the Flag (be sure to stretch first…there have been injuries).
Though the primary aim of the PlayLab is to support playwrights in turning their biggest, wildest ideas into finished plays, our secondary aim is to expand each playwrights’ artistic community. Through our Week of Extraordinary Risk, Springboards, and Retreat, we introduce our PlayLab playwrights to our large and vibrant artistic community, but we also invite each playwright to bring with them their own contacts. In this way, the PlayLab program is designed to spark new artistic collaborations between theatre artists of all kinds. PlayLab playwrights can expect to walk away from the program with an exciting new roster of directors, actors, and designers to work with for years to come.
Submit!
We are now accepting PlayLab submissions! To submit, please complete part 1 and part 2 of the application process by April 30, 2018, 11:59PM.
Part 1
Please email the following to playlab2019@pipelinetheatre.org with the subject line: [LAST NAME] 2019 PlayLab Submission. Please combine all materials into a single PDF document and be sure to name your file in the following format [LASTNAME_Playlab2019].
- Your Resume
- Your Bio
- Information about your proposed play (we’ll take anything from an outline, to a paragraph description, to a sample of 10 pages or fewer)
- A full-length theatrical writing sample (We wanna get to know you!)
Part 2
Upon submission of your application materials to playlab2019@pipelinetheatre.org, you will be sent a google form. The form must be completed for your application to be final. The form will ask you to provide the following:
- Your first and last name
- The title of your proposed play
- A short synopsis of your proposed play (400 words or less)
- The developmental history of your proposed play (400 words or less)
- Your responses to the following questions (250 words or less each):
– How does your play align with the Pipeline mission and vision?Major conflicts July 2018-June 2019
– Why are you excited to be a part of the PlayLab and Pipeline’s community?
– What are the big questions you have about your play at this point? What about this play is challenging to you as a writer?
– Why are you interested in developing this play in a group setting? How will you contribute to the PlayLab community?
Are you currently pursuing an MFA and/or are you in any other writers groups?
How you heard about the PlayLab!
Some finalists can expect to be contacted late-May for follow-up interviews via phone or skype.
Questions?
Send ‘em to Tom Costello. He has the answers: tom@pipelinetheatre.org.
All applicants will be notified by June 7, 2018.