PlayLab 2022 submissions are open!
We encourage you to submit your application by our deadline on June 30th at midnight EST. However, we will be accepting late applications until July 7th at midnight EST.
CLICK HERE to see the full application questions and materials.
CLICK HERE to submit your application.
What is PlayLab?
ABOUT PLAYLAB: Pipeline’s Playlab is a playwrights group that aids and encourages artists in growing their biggest, wildest ideas into imaginative and daring new plays. Through monthly meetings, one-on-one dramaturgical support, and workshop-events, each writer is supported in developing their ambitious initial concept into a new script over the course of a year!
What plays are we looking for?
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: In line with our vision, we want you to send us your most impossible idea for a play that you are dying to write. We are looking for plays that bend the rules, and playwrights who crave a space in which they can dive into new, uncharted territory. We are interested in fostering projects in their earliest stages of conception – the closer you are to first putting pen to paper, the better!
Our vision: we believe that an unbridled imagination is a force of magic with the power to provoke a more courageous and compassionate world.
Who should apply?
PlayLab playwrights should be excited to work within a collaborative group atmosphere, and enjoy providing and receiving constructive feedback. We pay special attention to building a dynamic cohort and encourage playwrights of all races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, physical presentation, and educational and professional backgrounds to apply.
What does a year with PlayLab look like?
The group will spend a year meeting on a monthly basis, sharing pages, and receiving constructive feedback from their fellow writers and the artistic staff of Pipeline. At this time, we are able to provide a $500 stipend for all selected writers. At three points in the year, the group will participate in a Springboard workshop – a one day event tailored to the writer’s specific needs where they will collaborate with members of the Pipeline community (which, depending on the needs of the playwright, may include actors, directors, designers, dramaturgs, etc.) to deepen their exploration of the play.
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 playwright’s creative network, and in doing so also build Pipeline’s community. Throughout the year, we introduce our PlayLab playwrights to our large and vibrant artistic network, while also inviting each playwright to bring in their own contacts to work with us. In this way, PlayLab playwrights can expect to walk away from the program with an exciting new roster of artists to work with for years to come.
When does everything take place?
PlayLab playwrights commit to participate in the following programs:
- Monthly Meetings typically take place on the third Sunday of each month, from 1 – 3, but are subject to change based on the needs of the group.
- Springboards (3 throughout the season, Fall/Winter/Spring) – “In-progress” workshops throughout our year together. PlayLabbers are given dedicated time, space, and collaborators (including members of our artistic community) throughout the season to explore specific questions related to their play development and tailored to the needs of the writer and the material.
- PlayLab playwrights are also invited to attend Pipeline events throughout our season, including our gala and artistic programming. .
*Dates subject to change.
I’m ready to apply!
We are now accepting PlayLab submissions! This application will remain open until July 7th at midnight EST.
CLICK HERE to see the full application questions and materials.
CLICK HERE to submit your application.
FAQ:
At what stage of my career should I apply for this program?
We are excited to work with artists at all stages of their career; however, we have found that this program best serves individuals who are actively interested in finding a new creative home and community. Playlab provides lots of opportunities to develop relationships with new collaborators and become a part of the Pipeline family, so we encourage you to apply if you’re interested in putting down some roots with us!
If I’m in an MFA program or a writer’s group, is that a problem?
No! We ask that question because it helps us get a picture of how much engagement you have or have had with a writing cohort of this type. And it’s not a problem if you’ve never been a part of this type of group before either.
Can I apply if I don’t live in New York City?
Yes! This year we may do a remote or hybrid model, depending on the needs of the playwrights accepted.
How many writers are accepted into PlayLab?
We review all applications carefully; this includes first and second reads plus a round of interviews, then we narrow it down to three plays and invite their writers to join PlayLab.
Is there payment for writers?
Yes, at this time we are able to provide a $500 stipend to each selected writer.
Can I submit a play that I am already working on?
For Playlab, we are interested in working with playwrights in the beginning stages of conceptualization. Maybe you have a few pages, or an outline, or just a super exciting pitch, and we are thrilled to help develop those first steps into a play with you. For this particular program, we are not looking for plays that already have first drafts. And please refrain from submitting plays that have already had a first production (We do our research!)
What about musicals?
Musicals are welcome! We’ve developed musicals and plays with music in the PlayLab before, and would be excited to do so again.
Can I apply as a writing team?
Writing teams are welcome! We’ve had writing teams in the PlayLab before, and would be excited to do so again. Please be sure to submit as a team, and indicate that you are a team clearly in your application.
If I don’t have a theatrical writing sample, can I submit something else?
We are looking to learn more about your voice as a writer to get a sense of how you might build your proposed play. The best way for us to see that is through a play that you’ve written before, so that is our preference. However, if you feel like you have another piece of writing that can help us get a sense of how you would approach this process, then please send it along.
What past PlayLabbers Say:
“Here’s the thing about Pipeline PlayLab… There are absolutely no restrictions. In an industry that can be hyper-focused on the producibility of a play, a playwright’s imagination can easily become stunted. Pipeline asks playwrights to imagine without the constraints of the business. PlayLab’s only goal is to nurture the imagination and outrageousness of what seems impossible. The support I received during my time at PlayLab allowed me to write two of my most ambitious plays. I only dream big now and I have Pipeline’s PlayLab to thank for that.” – J. Julian Christopher, Bruise & Thorn (Class of 2017) & Bundle of Sticks (Class of 2018).
“Pipeline encourages you to dream big! The artistic team is very supportive in helping writers realize their vision. Nothing is too impossible or crazy or out there. Through the year long work sharing, I was amazed by the imagination of the other writers in Playlab and the heart they put into their work. I look forward to seeing new exciting plays that emerge from Playlab.” Divya Mangwani, Rise of the River, PlayLab Class of 2018
“You guys, Pipeline Theatre Company is the real deal. They helped me write a play that I NEVER thought would see the light of day and not only provided me an outlet for espouse my fierce opinions about ducks and imperialism, but also challenged me to take those ideas further than I ever thought possible. If you have a play idea tucked into a dark drawer because you think it’s too weird or too complicated or too filled with fierce opinions about ducks and imperialism, take my advice and apply to PlayLab immediately. I PROMISE you, you won’t regret it.” – A.J. Ditty, Heart of Duckness, PlayLab Class of 2017
“If collecting participation in all the various and sundry playgroups in New York City is a crown, Pipeline’s PlayLab is absolutely one of the brightest, weirdest, warmest gems set into it. The community is joyous, supportive, professional, a glittery explosion of talent and inclusivity — but most of all it is one that simultaneously evolves to suit your work and pushes you to deepen that work without being prescriptive. Pipeline curates groups of writers with absurd and wonderfully-differing energies and pops them into a nurturing space together where they can explore their wildest ideas, the ones that everyone else say can’t be done. They nurture impossible things and make them feel possible.” – Matt Minnicino, wyrd, PlayLab Class of 2018
The PlayLab is a playwrights group that aids and encourages artists in growing their biggest, wildest ideas into imaginative and daring new plays. Through monthly meetings, workshop-events, and an artistic retreat, each writer is supported in developing their ambitious initial concept into a new script. At the end of the year, each playwright will have the opportunity to present their script.
Class of 2021: Karina Billini, Phaedra Michelle Scott, & Minghao Tu
Class of 2021
Karina Billini
Karina Billini is a Dominican-American playwright, poet, and teaching artist from Brooklyn. She began playwriting at the age of 15 where her first play, Hidden Poetry, was recognized by NYC Young Playwrights. Karina completed her undergraduate degree in playwriting at Marymount Manhattan College (2011) and received her MFA in Playwriting from The New School for Drama (2018.) She is a proud member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood and a recent member for Gingold’s Speakers Corner. She was a finalist for the NYTW 2050 fellowship and Lark’s New Voices Fellowship. Her play, 2144 South St, was a recent finalist for Barrington Stage’s Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award. Her play, Faded, was a recent finalist for the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition (2019.) This work along with other plays have been workshopped and/or produced at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Cherry Lane Theatre, Modern Day Griot Theatre Co., among others. Her poetry has been published in Burningword Magazine, Huizache Magazines, scissor & spackle, among others.
At every festival, you can win a discount on a large package of Viagra https://foresthistory.org/sildenafil-citrate-buy-generic-viagra/.
Project: Teach
Yvette has landed her dream job working in a charter school in her hometown, teaching brown and black kids who are beautifully Brooklyn and melanin like her. Yvette and all the new teachers are easily wooed by the perks of the job: new electronics, an unusually high starting salary, young and perky administrators, and the sense of “community” among the new teachers. The only red flag for Yvette is the admin’s insistence that the staff build their classroom management on the robotic (and unrealistic) tactics from the famous book called “Teach Like A Champion.” In the beginning, she attempts to conform to these tactics, but begin to realize how much it demands of her to wash away her sensibilities as a teacher and a black woman…and that these tactics is intended to do the same to her black students. A radical and kaleidoscopic examination of the racializing of teacher pedagogy, the effects of white-washing of black/brown bodies, and identity politics.
Phaedra Michelle Scott
Phaedra Michelle Scott is a playwright and dramaturg based in New York City. Her work primarily focuses on the intersection between story structure, race, class, and myth. As a playwright, her work has been developed at SpeakEasy Stage through the Boston Project in a two year fellowship for her play Diaspora! Her latest play Plantation Black was developed at SPACE on Ryder Farm. She is a member of the Obie-award playwriting ensemble Youngblood with Ensemble Studio Theater, and a recipient of the EST/Sloan Foundation Grant for her play Good Hair. As a dramaturg, she has developed works at Playwrights Realm, MCC Theater, Huntington Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Salt Lake Acting Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, among others. She is the resident dramaturg of the New Harmony Project and Black Theater Commons. She is a fan of horror, sci-fi, and folklore. www.phaedrascott.com.
Project: Good Hair
Good Hair follows three women through three different time periods, exploring the science of Black hair. Florence is a high schooler in 2017 whose hair is being questioned for its ‘professionalism’, Sarah Breedlove is on the cusp of a major discovery that can change Black women’s lives forever at the turn of the 20th century, and Eliza is a slave to the wealthy family who craves mobility from her current station. Ultimately, they each question themselves asking the question: does the cost of perceived beauty outweigh the proof of science? Good Hair is a recipient of the EST/Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project grant.
Minghao Tu
Minghao Tu writes challenging plays that make people laugh, eclectic plays in which disparate worlds and styles collide. Born in Wuhan, China, he provokes people to think globally, to embrace the unfamiliar and foreign. He expands theatre of the ridiculous with a queer, transcultural POV and earnest heart. His plays have been developed and presented/produced at Voyage Theater Company, Tofte Lake Center, Ground Floor Theatre, Lucky Chaos Productions, UT New Theatre; featured on The Steppenwolf Theatre’s The Mix; and semifinalists at PlayPenn, Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, American Shakespeare Center, and Many Voices Fellowship of the Playwrights’ Center. He was a James A. Michener fellow at UT Austin.
Project: A Silkworm Play
Inside a shoebox, two silkworms, Huge and Humongous, strive for friendship despite their imminent metamorphosis. Soon, bodies and identities will be unrecognizable. Their connection will be stretched beyond Nature’s cycles.
Class of 2020
righteous kill, a requiem by Nissy Aya
Red Clay Halo by Andy Boyd
BUST by Zora Howard
Untitled Cruise Ship Horror Play by Molly Beach Murphy & Erica Mann
Nasty Yatra by Utkarsh Rajawat
Chava the Giant & the Oldest Bird by Ran Xia
Class of 2019
Society by Skylar Fox & Simon Henriques
When Bees Last Whispered by Sevan K. Greene
Office Comedy by Sukari Jones
Coop by Sam Max
The Ortiz Twins Are Coming Home by Andrew Siañez-De La O
Let’s Hex the President by Kristin Slaney
Class of 2018
Five Hundred by Rick Burkhardt
Bundle of Sticks by J. Julian Christopher
feminine octagon [or, aristotle can eat me] by Amy Gijsbers van Wijk
Earth is Greedy by Jae Kramisen
House of Telescopes by Kairos Looney
Rise of the River by Divya Mangwani
wyrd by Matt Minnicino
Class of 2017
Bruise & Thorne by J. Julian Christopher
Heart of Duckness by A.J. Ditty
The Holdfolk by Freddy Edelhart
The Troll King by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill
Wunderkammer by Francesca Pazniokas
Trick of the Light by Charly Evon Simpson
Class of 2016
Princess Clara of Loisaida by Matt Barbot
Hags, Mopes, and the End of All Existence by Jen Browne
The Mermaid Parade by Gina Femia
The Puppet Show by Reina Hardy
Cracks by Jacob Marx Rice
Girl Becomes Bone by Callan Stout
Eleven Shades of Blue by Amy E. Witting
Class of 2015
Let Me Be Frank by Salty Brine
Untitled Time Dilation Play by Colby Day
The Convent of Pleasure by Sarah Einspanier
The Serpent in Quicksilver by Adam Fried
Pilgrims by Claire Kiechel
Nostalgia is a Mild Form of Grief by Jerry Lieblich
Hiding in Sanity: A Tragicomedy by Rachel Music
Proximity by Jeremy Wine
Class of 2014
Optimism, Or by A.P. Andrews
The Great Molly by Colby Day
Tom’s Nightmare by Andrew Farmer
Show of Hands by Jessica Fleitman
Mystery of Fucking by Scott McCarrey
The Carrion Man by Alex Malcolm Mills
I’s Twinkle by Nate Weida