Local Theater Company To Develop Three New American Plays During Local Lab 2018 New Play Festival

Local Theater Company will welcome three playwrights from across the country to Boulder for Local Lab 2018: New Play Festival. The 3-day festival of new plays, parties and playwright panels will be held at Dairy Arts Center Friday-Sunday, April 20-22, 2018. Festival passes and show-only tickets are available online at www.localtheaterco.org/local-lab-2018.

Now in its seventh year, Local Lab festival-goers help playwrights shape their scripts. Following professionally-staged readings, attendees participate in discussions with the playwrights, offering important feedback as the writers move the scripts forward into full productions either at Local Theater Company, or at regional and off-Broadway theaters across the country. Festival passholders also attend parties with the writers and directors and engage in a collaborative writing project using SmartPhones.

"After reading hundreds of scripts from some of our country's most respected playwrights, we chose three gripping plays that feel incredibly timely and entertaining," said Pesha Rudnick, artistic director. "At Local Theater Company, we are committed to bringing stories to the stage that challenge the world we live in today. The weekend will be riveting-I can't think of a more exciting time to engage our community in some of our nation's most pressing issues through the lens of art."

The plays that will be developed during this year's new play festival include "Clockwork" by Emily Zemba, a comedy about a congresswoman up for re-election scrambling to fish her campaign out of the toilet; "Ladybits" by Rehana Lew Mirza, about an aspiring comedian who finds solace within a group of other female comedians feeling marginalized in an industry-and world-dominated by men; and "Paper Cut" by Andrew Rosendorf, a raw exploration of the physical and emotion of war on a soldier returning home as an amputee.

In addition to the three plays, Local will collaborate with Boulder theater companies Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company and The Catamounts to present a reading of "Natural Shocks," a national campaign of theater activism against gun violence. The production will feature Local Associate Artistic Director Mare Trevathan. The weekend marks the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting and will raise funds for organizations addressing gun violence.

Local Lab serves as the first step in Local's development pipeline, with the possibility of readings culminating in a full production, as was the case with this season's celebrated productions of "The Rape of the Sabine Women, By Grace B. Matthias" and "Wisdom From Everything."

Festival passes and show-only tickets are available now at www.localtheaterco.org or by calling the Dairy Arts Center at 303-444-7328. Festival Passes are $89 and include all readings, a panel conversation with the playwrights, and two parties. Show-only tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for patrons under the age of 30, and $5 for students.

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