Previews: LAB LAUGHS 25 at LAB Theatre Project

On Thursday, July 17, LAB Theater Project opens its annual comedy shorts festival with Laughs & Libations: A Benefit Bash, a one-night-only event featuring live performance, drinks, food, and a spirited silent auction. The evening marks the launch of LAB Laughs 2025, a fast-paced festival of brand-new comedic short plays from a lineup of local and international playwrights.

Now in its tenth season, LAB Theater Project is using the occasion to look back—and leap forward. Since 2015, the company has remained focused on its mission to produce only original, never-before-seen work. With more than 40 world premieres already under its belt, LAB has carved out a distinctive place in the local and national theater landscape, cultivating new voices and new stories from the ground up.

"For a small independent regional company to have survived ten years is a monumental accomplishment. We have a very dedicated following, and we are absolutely grateful for them. My passion for bringing new works to life, for providing a pathway for new playwrights and theater artists and a home for them to enter the field is resolute. I am as passionate about the work now as I was at the beginning. We constantly refine what we do and we get better and better after every season. What will we do in the next ten years, well that remains to be seen,” says Owen Robertson, Executive Producer. “My hope is that we continue to grow, our patronage grows, as does our fiscal support, then we can expand operations and offer more to our community and the field as a whole. Some of the works that we have premiered are not published works, that is a wonderful feeling. Opening that inside page and seeing LAB listed as the place a work was first premiered is the legacy of the work we do. The next step is to see a work move on to a bigger production or see one of our emerging playwrights find success on Broadway, yeah, that is the dream of this journey."

This year’s festival continues that momentum, featuring nine sharp, funny, and unexpected short plays by ten playwrights from across the country—and beyond. From Dunedin and Seattle to New York and Singapore, the voices represented in LAB Laughs 2025 bring a global lens to small-scale, high-impact comedy.

Featured plays and playwrights are:

A Reservation by John J. Kelly (DeLand, FL) 

In this establishment, even the restroom requires a reservation

All Puffed Up by Romney Humphrey (Seattle, WA)

When a socialite’s subtle slip meets a friend’s fabulous fix — hilarity ensues

Daydream by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend (Singapore)

She’s stuck at Thanksgiving dinner—but her brain is throwing a fantasy rave

Eye of the Beholder by Rich Rubin (Portland, OR)

Love is blind. Yard sales are blinder

Inconvenient Store Robbery by Robert & Lynn Dixon (Dunedin, FL)

It’s your classic armed robbery meets emotional hostage situation.

Plinth by Robert Kehew (Arlington, VA)

Statues may crumble, but awkward public history tours are forever

The Brady Girls by Debra A. Cole (Lawrence, KS)

Before the Bradys were blended, the girls had some thoughts. Loud ones

The Extraordinary Ordinary Ones by Maury Zeff (San Francisco, CA)

Two spies. One mission. Zero clue who’s in charge anymore

We’ve Still Got It by Raven Petretti-Stamper (Jersey City, NJ)

Actors Perry Bruns, Avry Eden, Mike Fasso, Rick Fernandez, Sophia Fischer, Lisa Negron, Roseanne Olszewski, Will Rickard, Taylor Skolnick, and Kari Velguth, under the direction of Jeffery M. Lukas, keeps the evening moving at an energetic pace—blending the absurd, the awkward, and the all-too-familiar.

Lukas says, "There are plenty of one-act festivals happening around the city this time of year—but what sets Lab Theater Project apart is that these are Bonafide world premieres. Every short in the lineup is making its first-ever debut on stage, and with comedy as the focus, Lab guarantees audiences a seriously enjoyable time. And this year? The funny is off the charts.

I’ve had an absolute blast working with this cast and crew to bring the show to life. Come check out what we’ve been working so hard on—you’re going to love it!"

Season eleven has seen submissions increase by 400%, an exponential growth for LAB Theater Project. Owen predicts that it is only going to get more. He hopes to grow to the point of adding full-time staff to accommodate that growth and continue to increase our rates for their artists.

Robertson adds, “"Coming to the event is a show of support for our mission of "bringing new works to life" and supporting new artists in our community. Without support for incubators like LAB, without support and belief in the value and importance of new works, Theatre doesn't grow, it doesn't get new masters. Instead, it retreads what comes off of Broadway. Coming to our event, supporting LAB is saying that you believe that Tampa can be a place for new works to be nurtured and grown, that new artists are welcome in our community and be given a safe place to explore their work and step into the spotlight as professional theater artists.”