LAB Theater Project has moved and our new space is located at
812 E. Henderson Avenue
Tampa, FL 33602
Keep up to date with LAB Theater Project and season information here on our website at labtheaterproject.com
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to LAB
We are a professional theater company focused on the development of new works and new artists.
Who We Are
LAB's 2021 Season
**Due to the pandemic, our season is subject to change in response to health and safety concerns.**
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January 21-24, 2021
Join us for a spotlight on work from Precious Thieves playwright, Jared Eberlein. The evening “marks something of a retrospective of my short plays,” says Eberlein. Though written across the last decade, each play in the trilogy asks us to explore our relationships with one another, how we navigate the good and the bad, how do we fit into society, when we do. And how hard should we try to fit in when we feel like we don’t?
I’ll String Along with You introduces us to Sarah and Laurel, a married couple living in NYC. While Sarah’s son Cooper shows up for one night “just to crash,” for his mother, the stay presents an opportunity to repair their broken relationship. When Laurel discovers Sarah secretly working on a gift for Cooper in the basement laundry room of their building, Laurel, knowing how awry Sarah’s plan can go, tries to get her to face the reality that one night can’t fix it. In the end, Eberlein asks us if to hope is okay?
Click: A Travel Motif, puts the audience literally in the driver’s seat—and asks us to be honest about which of our deeply-rooted perceptions are long overdue for dismantling? In this fast-moving percussive-language piece, we meet James and Jerry, two successful Black men who are just trying to catch the bus. Through their interactions with each other and the city traffic, we see the lengths those around us may be going to fit a systemic norm and survive relentless snap judgements.
Our final piece of the evening is Jack: A Love Story. Set in San Francisco in 1963, Eberlein puts a delightfully dark twist on several timeless fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Meet Brick (of “Three Pigs'' fame) and Jack (from the Beanstalk and also Jill’s brother) two recently released cellmates from Alcatraz who are attempting to adjust to life “on the outside.” Brick wants to return home to his wife right away. Jack feels lost in his freedom. To stay or to go? An omniscient Beatnik narrator, certainly makes us wonder if the choice is ever ours.
Orion Flanagan
Miles Randolph
Rachel Stidham
An Evening With Eberlein
March 18 - April 4, 2021
via SOCIALLY DISTANT SEATING
(Limit: 20 seats per performance / Advance Ticket Purchases Only)
& LIVE STREAMING
A fantastic season opener!
This short play trilogy perfectly illustrates what an exciting 2021 season this is going to be for the groundbreaking theatre.
~ P. A. Balaskas
Three marvelous little showcases of three very distinctly different styles.
~ J. Parra
Katie Calahan
Lance Felton
Leah LoSchiavo
Chazzz MaCartney
A Special Event @ LAB
in colLABoration with
4 local artists will be displaying their artwork in LAB's lobby
during the run of The Wendy House.
Click on the photos below to learn more
about each Featured Artist.
‘Wendy House’ reminds Tampa that it’s lucky to have theater that focuses solely on new work
In a theater world that thrives on adaptations or revival, LAB presents world premieres every time out.
MAY 10, 2021 10 AM
If you get the chance I highly recommend going to see The Wendy House by Hector Melendez-Figueroa at Lab Theater Project. It’s a roller coaster of emotions. A meaty story with a lot of depth. There’s humor, intense moments, twists everything you need to capture the audience. Owen is a tremendous director. Come see it and support an up and coming playwright and up and coming theater. You won’t be disappointed!
~ Kyle Glatfelter
“The Wendy House,” written by my good friend Hector Melendez, Directed by Owen Robertson of Lab Theater Project, and featuring some other friends who I’ve had the pleasure of performing with Emma Hurlburt & Rick Fernandez, was F'ING incredible. I laughed, I cried... I laughed again, then cried.
The story written by Hector had a significant impact on me this evening as I very much related to the main character in the show. It makes sense that I cried several times... Curious? Go see this show!
~ Kevin Tydlaska-Dzeidzic
This show both breaks my heart and repairs my soul every night.
~ Kristy Pike
J.M. BARRIE told us, based on the legends of Pan, a tale of a boy who never grew old and his friends who did same. It was a wonderful tale about youthful zeal and escapism and how we must never lose that-- but we must temper it with the responsibilities of adulthood. HECTOR MELENDEZ-FIGUEROA has taken that basic thrust and put us all in a very sobering mystery that explores that and that ancient adage: Be careful what you wish for-- you may get it... His script is very tender yet tough and he is oh so careful as to what information he lets out and when, like a lion tamer. There are times with this mystery when we are sure we know where it is going and then WHAM!!! Right in the bread-basket. At no time is the tale ever tame, but we are lulled into a false sense of security which is essential to the very strong wrap-up and don't think you've got it all solved-- you don't... OH!!! Bring a hanky for the ending, my dears.... you will need it. If this is an example of Mr. Melendez-Figueroa's mind, we await further adventures and shall sleep with one eye open -- he is a graduate of LAB's Summer Workshop for Playwrights -- ask them about it when you order your tickets. SEE THIS INCREDIBLE WORK, MY DEARS, and as I suggest, bring a hanky -- maybe two.
~ Joseph Parra of Stage, TV, and Cinema Art & Artists
I just watched The Wendy House. If you feel like you never quite banished your inner child, if you've ever worried about the things you left behind, wondered about the kids you'll never see again, if watching kids having a hard time getting adults to listen is like empathy punching you in the nose, WATCH THIS SHOW! It's not a kid's show, it's very much an adults' show, but it will appeal to your inner child on a lot of levels. This is the best play I have ever seen. Ever. Be prepared to cry. A lot, it's intense. And laugh! You'll want to catch it now, before it goes on Broadway and everybody's seen it, so you'll have bragging rights. Go buy tickets, they're only running for 2 more weekends. Make sure the actors can hear your reactions, and prepare to be rewarded!
~ Michael Horn
I just had a magical night at the theatre at Lab Theater Project. Well written, sensitively directed, and I love their new space too.
~ Bridget Bean
The Wendy House at LAB Theater Project gets TWO THUMBS UP
Katie Calahan
Ricardo Fernandez
Zachary Finley
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The Wendy House
by Hector Melendez-Figueroa
May 6 - 23, 2021
via SOCIALLY DISTANT SEATING
(Limit: 20 seats per performance / Advance Ticket Purchases Only)
& LIVE STREAMING
Sebastian has come home for his father's funeral. While visiting the grave site he encounters his father's partner, John. Sebastian seeks answers at his childhood haunt. John wants to solve a cold case. Everything comes to a head when both men return to the Wendy House and face memories, old friends, and the truth.
Emma Hurlburt
Miles Randolph
Tyler Wood
** M (Mature). This program should be viewed by adults or older teens (17+) that have parental permission.
Content in this show may contain the following: suggestive dialogue, strong coarse language, sexual situations, or intense violence. Some content may be difficult for those with direct relatable experience to the subject matter portrayed.
Extraction
by A.J. DeLauder
September 2 - 19, 2021
via SOCIALLY DISTANT SEATING
(Limit: 20 seats per performance / Advance Ticket Purchases Only)
& LIVE STREAMING
Monica Foers, a struggling photojournalist from The Washington Gazette, has been sent on assignment to Welch, West Virginia, to document the decline of coal miners in the land made famous by Homer Hickam and October Sky. But when Monica accidentally travels to beautiful little Walsh, West Virginia instead, she decides to use the local townspeople's histories and images to create the downtrodden caricatures she expected to find. Little does Monica realize that her exploitation may ultimately rob Walsh of far more than just a few pictures.
Skin Hungry
by Erin Mallon
October 28 - November 14, 2021
via SOCIALLY DISTANT SEATING
(Limit: 20 seats per performance / Advance Ticket Purchases Only)
& LIVE-STREAMING
Ruth is a 74-year old woman. Rowan is a 23-year-old man. They’re in love. And Ruth’s 43-year-old son, Jim, is freaking the hell out.
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Every dollar given to LAB supports the work we do.
It allows us to pay actors, directors, designers, stage managers, playwright's stipend, and for equipment. Your donation is tax deductible through our fiscal sponsorship by Fractured Atlas a 501(c)3 company.
