Ithaca, NY--The Hangar Theatre, a leading regional theatre in central New York State, is accepting applications to its Lab Company through March 26, 2021. The Lab Company will be in residence from June 7th to August 1st, 2021.
Now celebrating its 47th season, the Hangar Theatre is home to the Hangar Lab Company, a nationally recognized theatre training program. Designed for college students and theatre artists transitioning into the professional world, the program offers an immersive hands-on experience in a repertory environment, supplemented by classes and workshops taught by career professionals.
Artistic Director, Shirley Serotsky shares, "we are so looking forward to having an in-person experience with the Hangar Lab Company this summer. We are working with our COVID-19 safety taskforce, a group of staff and medical professionals, to create an environment where emerging artists can learn, collaborate, and explore together. It's been a challenging time for everyone, but especially for theatre-makers in the process of learning their craft. It will be a joy to offer the tools and spaces to start telling meaningful stories again."
Lab Company members will spend the summer learning, rehearsing, and performing at and around the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY. With thoughtfully curated tracks for actors, choreographers, and directors/dramaturgs, Lab Company members will enhance their craft by engaging in a series of professional level rehearsal experiences, workshop explorations, classes, and performances. All will be taught, led, or directed by guest artists, Hangar artistic staff, and a cohort of directing fellows selected by the prestigious Drama League Directors Project.
The Drama League Directors Project advances the American theatre by providing a lifelong artistic home for directors and a platform for dialogue with audiences. The Drama League Directors will direct the Wedge and KIDDSTUFF shows, performed by Lab Company members. The Hangar Theatre’s 2021 Drama League directing fellows include Christian Ávila, Jasmine B. Gunter, Nicholas Polonio, and one more artist to be announced this April. Visit hangartheatre.org/DLDs to read their bios and learn more about the Drama League.
Lab Company members will have specific opportunities within their area of interest, with group classes and workshops. These are designed to supplement the experiential learning that comes with rehearsals and performance runs. Subjects will vary, but recent sessions have included: new play development, acting for the camera, audition techniques, building musical theatre repertoire, radical vulnerability with an anti-racist lens, the devising process, and accents & dialects.
2021 Lab Company Tracks:
Actors
Lab Company actors perform in our Wedge series, which features timely and inventive works in nontraditional spaces; our theatre for young audiences (TYA) KIDDSTUFF series; and Lab director showcase projects. Actors will also have the opportunity to audition for and understudy mainstage Hangar productions. Each actor in the Lab Company is guaranteed three roles onstage during the summer, and has the opportunity to audition and receive feedback for roles with industry professionals. In addition, actors are assigned to studio projects throughout the program (i.e. directors’ projects, movement pieces choreographed by our Lab choreographers, or other opportunities). The Lab provides an extremely rigorous schedule for each actor to practice their craft in rehearsals, director-led projects, professional training workshops, and performances.
Choreographers
The Lab Company choreographer(s) will serve as an assistant on at least one of our Mainstage musicals, and as lead choreographer on at least one KIDDSTUFF production. The Lab choreographers will also create a studio project with Lab actors, and participate in classes focused specifically on directing, movement, and choreography.
Directors/Dramaturgs
Lab Company Directors will serve as an assistant director/dramaturg on several projects, with a range of styles and intended audiences. Those include: one Mainstage show (directed by Hangar artistic staff or a visiting artist), one show in our experimental Wedge series (directed by a Hangar Drama League Directing Fellow), and one show in our KIDDSTUFF series (directed by a Hangar Drama League Directing Fellow). Directors will also create a devised showcase project, under the mentorship of an experienced, professional theatre artist. In addition to classes with the full Lab Company, the directors participate (with the Lab choreographer) in classes specifically geared toward the craft of directing and dramaturgy.
Applications
Applications accepted on a rolling basis with a deadline of March 26, 2021.
In order to make the Lab Company program accessible to all, financial aid is available. Financial aid details are included in the application forms. As part of the Hangar’s ongoing efforts to make its spaces more equitable, inclusive, and diverse, two fully-funded tracks each summer will be open for emerging BIPoC artists.
Apply and learn more now at hangartheatre.org/lab
