This summer of 2017 was a Lab for people who wanted to change, to think in new ways and to figure a lot of things out.  In 2017, we are all BY A LONG SHOT, not the first theater -makers to live in times of change.  Art has been created in and in response to moments of change many, many times in the past.  And so often - or perhaps always? -the art that has come down to us from these moments in history has remained potent while the specific circumstances that gave rise to it (though still visible in the work) have faded.

Process

The microcosm is the macrocosm.  The circle you create as you approach a production will transfer itself to the rehearsal environment you create, which will translate into the interaction your production has with its audience- and who is the audience?  The macrocosm is the world that attends and responds to your work.  The microcosm is the world you create in the room.  Does this mean that if you create as a collective, it will have a different vibe than if you create as a visionary artist/autocrat? Who has the authority and freedom to speak and contribute in your room?  There can be freedom in a rehearsal room – the free exchange of ideas among collaborators – and there can be censorship in the rehearsal room – for artistic, personal or political reasons.  How does this come about?  How does it affect the work?  Does one way produce better results? And then, in the macrocosm, how you identify, reach out to and play to an audience will continue the enlargement of your vision.   Are you reaching now the audience you want?  Who are they?  Who are they ideally?  How do you get them to your production? How do they feel once they are there?  Challenged?  Loved?  Will they come back?  Why?  The 2017 Lab spent some time dealing with freedom of expression among the participants, some of whom were made anxious by this freedom.

Lab Participants
Lauren Z Adleman
Denis Agaba
Baris Arman
Mimi Barcomi
Lila Rachel Becker
Paul Bedard
Bruno Contenti Bello
Allison Benko
Yael Biegon-Citron
Abigail Birkett
Dimitris Bogdanos
Eli Carpenter
Nicolo Columbano
Eleonora Comelli
Ameera Conrad
Scott F. Davis
Zoe Erwin-Longstaff
James Fauvell
Alessandra Giuntini
Malgorzata Gluchowska
Juan Carlos Valdez Gonzalez
Dana Greenfield
Emily Hartford
Margaret Grace Hee
Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Juan Diego Bonilla Ibanez
Maria Johannes
Polina Kalinina
Miléna Kartowski-Aiach
Ioanna Katasarou
Sheena Khalid
Nohar Lazarovich
May Liang
Ivey Lowe
Nicole Miller Marks
Robert Martin
Kaytlin McIntyre
Terri McMahon
Lindsey Augusta Mercer
Tara Moses
Alexander Nikanorov
Natalie Novacek
Caitlin Ryan O'Connell
Sargun Oshana
Julia Prechsl
Jonald Jude Reyes
Cait  Robinson
Diana Cueva Rodriguez
William Alexander Runnels
Arturo Wong Sagel
Robert Salzer
Belete Antsokia Semunigus
Noam Shapiro
Tung-Ling Shih
Daniel Leeman Smith
Kate St-Pierre
Stephanie Stroud
Julia Thomas
Oscar Toeman
Kai-Chieh Tu
Raluca Elena Urea
Dionne Verwey
Rebecca Willingham
Connor Winfeld Zaft
Daniel Zuzalek
S. Dylan Zwickel

Master Artists
André Bishop
Todd London
Peter Schumann
Elka Schumann
Marie-Claire Picher
Rachel Chavkin
Frank Hentschker
Peter Lake
Daniel Sullivan
Ira Weitzman
Brandon Ivie
Kirsten Childs
Ayad Akhtar
Geoff Sobelle
Bartlett Sher
Pam MacKinnon

Lab Actors
Jenny Bacon
Therese Barbato
Annie Fox
Gilles Geary
Andrew Guilarte
Ryan J. Hadad
Nadine Malouf
Tom Nelis
Marjan Neshat
Howard W. Overshown
Tiffany Rachelle Stewart
Ann Troup

Lab Staff
Lab Director: Anne Cattaneo
Lab Coordinator: Chris Munnell
Lab Assistant: Kerry Candeloro

Stage Management
Karen Evanouskas
Leigh’Ann Andrews
Laura Nelson
Seth Kieser
Leah Drayton

Master Artist Sessions
An Ideal Theater by Todd London
How Shakespeare Put Politics on the Stage by Peter Lake
Bread and Puppet Theater by Peter and Elka Schumann
Augusto Boal and Theater of the Oppressed with Marie-Claire Picher
Rimini Protokoll with Frank Hentschker
Musicals with Ira Weitzman, Brandon Ivie, and Kirsten Childs
Discussion with André Bishop
Discussion with Rachel Chavkin
Discussion with Daniel Sullivan
Discussion with Pam MacKinnon
Discussion with Bartlett Sher
Discussion with Geoff Sobelle 

Group Activities
Community Models of Making Theater
Sharing of Own Projects

Shared Sessions
Acting Analysis- Margaret Hee
Alien Safari- Robert Salzer
Anti-Social (Bogdan Georgescu) – Dana Greenfield
The Author Went Nuts – Malgorzata Gluchowska
Backwards and Forwards- Darrel Holnes
Community Theater Co– Juan Carlos Valdez Gonzalez
Cornerstone & Urban/Rural Theater Exchange– Nicole Miller Marks
Di Trevis' Scenarios– Raluca Urea
Director as Explorer: Contemplative Imagination- Abigail Birkett
'Drama, Drag, & Democracy' : Theatre as protest through the characters of Pieter-Dirk Uys– Ameera Conrad
Eventing the Text – Julia Thomas
Exploring The Actors Prerogative– Connor Zaft
Four Lists- Terri McMahon
Grammar and Punctuation- Lindsey Mercer
Introduction to Devising Theater from Story Circles- Robert Martin
Korean Shamanism: Oppressed Body and Music- Kai-Chieh Tu
Legends of Khasak- Sheena Khalid
Map of Life- Dimitris Bogdanos
The Method of Acting Analysis- Alessandra Giuntini and Nicolo Columbano
The Meddah- Baris Arman
Reset Suspension- Alexander Nikanorov
Richard Foreman’s Manifesto- Scott Davis
Right Wing Plays and Where to Find Them?- Oscar Toeman
Tableau Vivant: Composition as a Means of Storytelling- Yael Biegon-Citron
Ta Ji Dow Ing-Tung-Ling Shih
Traditional Ethiopian Dance- Belete Semunigus
Workshop on Theater de Complicite Methods- Ioanna Katsarou

The 2017 Lab focused on new plays and writers, as well as classical plays, and musicals. The participants attended and discussed : 

The Taming by Lauren Gunderson
Rain Follows The Plow by Rachel Nelson
Martyr by Marius Von Mayenburg, trans. by Maja Zade
Antigone by Anouilh, trans. by Barbara Bray
The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein, dir. by Orson Welles
Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, dir. by Kimberly Senior
South Pacific by Rodgers and Hammerstein, dir. by Bartlett Sher
Rent by Jonathan Larson, dir. by Michael Greif
Hair by Gerome Ragini and James Rado, dir. by Diane Paulus
Le Dernier Caravanserail dir. by Ariane Mnouchkine
Falsettos by William Finn and James Lapine, dir. by James Lapine
Sarafina! written and directed by Mbongeni Ngema 
Bring In Da’ Noise, Bring In Da’ Funk conceived and directed by George C. Wolfe, book by Reg E. Gaines
Oslo by J.T. Rogers, dir. by Bartlett Sher
Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau, dir. by Lileana Blain-Cruz
Ghostlight by Third Rail Projects
Opening Skinner’s Box by Improbable