Theatre Lab Announces 10th Anniversary Season
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Summer Theatre Lab will host its 10th season in residence at the CenterStage of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance.
This summer’s season of theatrical work created, produced and performed by Williams students and visiting artists will include work from acclaimed playwrights Diana Yanez and Lucy Thurber, student- and alumni-generated projects, and a 10th anniversary cabaret celebration.
The Lab provides a unique offering in the region’s summer theater scene. Since its inception in 2005, it has served as an opportunity for Williams students and returning alumni professionals to work in a supportive and nurturing theatrical environment free from commercial and critical pressure.
The 2014 season will regularly feature free presentations that are open to the public (see below for a complete schedule). The Lab will culminate in the Open Lab Weekend, a festival of productions and projects that takes place on August 14, 15 and 16. All performances will be in the CenterStage of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance (1000 Main St., Williamstown). Admission is free.
“We’re excited to launch our 10th season at Lab," said Kevin O’Rourke (Williams Class of 1978), artistic director and co-founder of the Lab. "In addition to fostering new work from the 2014 company, we’re celebrating the legacy of the many alumni professionals who've emerged from the Lab over the past 10 years. We're also incredibly lucky to have Caitlin Sullivan (Williams Class of 2007, Satori Artistic Director and a Lab alum) as co-artistic director, and Lab regulars like Jay Tarses and the Satori Group in residence.
"The Lab has produced great work for a decade now, and this season will definitely continue that tradition.”
O’Rourke, a director and award-winning film and theatre performer, is currently appearing in "The City of Conversation" at Lincoln Center Theatre, and as Mayor Edward Bader in the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire." 2014 will be his 10th season as Artistic Director.
Lab performances begin Sunday, July 13, at 7 p.m. with a presentation of Diana Yanez’s "Wait a Minute - I Thought I Was White." In this one-woman work-in-progress, actor/storyteller Yanez portrays the comic and often bittersweet misinterpreted family conversations and missed cultural cues that have led her to a racial identity crisis.
On Sunday, July 20, at 7p.m., the Lab will present staged readings of original company plays. These student-produced pieces are the culmination of two-week workshop sessions with the critically acclaimed Satori theater ensemble and the Lab’s playwright-in-residence, Margie Duffield ’85.
On Sunday, Aug. 3, at 7 p.m., the Lab will present scenes from Lucy Thurber’s "Hill Town Plays." This acclaimed five-play cycle chronicles the progression of a woman’s life in rural Western Massachusetts, ultimately seeking to explore “where we come from, what we dream of becoming and who we are." Thurber, who is in residence during the weekend of the performance, will also host a Q&A session about her work.
The season concludes with the Open Lab Weekend, which takes place on Aug. 14, 15 and 16. To commemorate the accomplishments of the past decade, the Lab will host a 10th anniversary cabaret that showcases the work of the 2014 company alongside projects from visiting alumni professionals and former Lab participants. These projects include a production of "Go That Way" by alumnus Amanda Keating ‘10, student-written one-acts selected from the July playwriting workshop, readings of alumni scripts, and selected student-initiated projects. In addition to the scheduled performances, there will be panel discussions and talk-backs with visiting alumni and other theatre professionals.
The Lab’s goal is to nurture theatrical projects that foster creative experimentation, artistic risk taking, and the collaborative process. In the past nine years, the Lab has produced over 30 theatrical works involving over 75 undergraduates and 40 visiting alumni. These projects have included staged readings of student work, the first presentation of a new one-man show starring Gordon Clapp ’71, a new musical in development from Michael Winther ’85, new plays from Adam LeFevre ‘72 and Jay Tarses ’61, and the critically acclaimed 2007 Williamstown Theatre Festival/Summer Theatre Lab collaborative production of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s "The Physicists" starring Roger Rees and John Feltch ’80.
For ticket reservations, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/32885 or call 413-597-4839.
