LAB Theater Project
February 22nd – March 10, 2024
Directed by: Owen Robertson
Cast: Tiffany Faykus, Mandy Keen, James Skinner, Isabel Natera, John D. Hooper
Story Line: Prior to the horrific mass shooting of 2016 at Pulse in Orlando Florida, there was the arson that took the lives of thirty-two gay men at The Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans on June 24, 1973. On the same night, Sydney Trahan, a young nursing student, was arrested for dancing at Brady’s, a notorious lesbian bar in the French Quarter. Her parents, Bud and Helen Trahan struggle to gain some control over their lives and restore a sense of normalcy after Syd’s transgressions that night. Their neighbors, Beverly and Beau Larson, try to be supportive friends while hiding their secrets that intertwine with the tragedy of The Upstairs Lounge and Syd’s arrest. The Larsons face terrible realities as the Trahan family makes choices they couldn’t make. Will Syd’s future be saved? Will she come out of this the person she wants to be? Will Bud and Helen love their daughter unconditionally? Will the Larsons survive the truth when forced to face it? All this is revealed in SYD.
May 2nd – 19th, 2024
Directed by: Katie Calahan
Cast: Mandy Keen, Owen Robertson, Larry Corwin, Zachary Finley
Story Line:
It is August 1914 and Taliesin, the extraordinary home of Frank Lloyd Wright, is burning. After receiving an urgent telephone call, famed master builder Frank Lloyd Wright rushes on board a train in Chicago bound for the Wisconsin countryside. To complicate matters, Wright is joined in the private coach by his lover’s former husband, Edwin Cheney. Both men are desperate to know the extent of the blaze. Many have speculated about what the two men discussed during the agonizing six-hour journey, while being hounded by the press on the worst day of their lives. Only the plucky young reporter Mary Evelyn Brooks knows the answer.
July 11th-21st, 2024
Directed by Caroline Jett and Katie Calahan
Short Plays: Bitter Grounds by MARIPAT ALLEN • Bridge by JESSICA MOSS • Flirtle by GREG LAM • Full Frontal Transparency by JENNA JANE • Heaven Can’t Wait by CHRISTINE FOSTER • Snow White Who? by BARBARA LINDSAY • The Origin of Zeke Wolf by DANA HALL
Cast: Bill DeYoung, Zack Finley, Nathan Juliano, Brice Bailey, Rachel Stidham, Jennette Cronk, Lara Jackson, and Erinn Botz
Story Line:
A collection of seven comedic works, audiences will begin their evening at BITTER GROUNDS, a simple little coffee shop that doesn’t cater to bougie drinks but rather serves coffee perfect for your personal crappy mood. Two couples gather to play “BRIDGE” but very quickly it isn’t about cards but rather a hilarious misunderstanding of “playing” together. Dating is hard enough these days, and there is an app for everyone, imagine if the beloved Wordle became a dating app, they would have to call it FLIRTLE. In FULL FRONTAL TRANSPARENCY, two young people, tired of the dating scene, seek to find a quicker way of getting to know each other by getting all the nasty “secrets” out of the way upfront; what could go wrong? Ever wonder if there was a quicker way at the end? HEAVEN CAN’T WAIT, has the answer for you, and you’ll get the service you deserve. We end the night cuddling up to two old familiar friends or are they. In SNOW WHITE WHO? Prince Charming comes home to tell the King of his luck in finding the perfect future Princess, but dear old dad has questions, a lot of questions. And to end the night, we take a look back at the big bad wolf. Ever wonder what he was like as a child? THE ORIGIN OF ZEKE WOLF explores that question as his parents attend a teacher’s conference to discuss Zeke’s recent behavior.
September 5th – 22nd, 2024
Directed by Caroline Jett
Cast: Blake Boles, Elliana Gorecki, Jennifer Casler, Samantha Parisi, Nathan Juliano
Story Line:
Sweden 1889. A young man named Per Nilsson collaborated with his domineering mother in the gruesome murder of his young wife. His mother was found guilty of the murder and beheaded. Per was declared insane and institutionalized at The Konradsberg Lunatic Asylum in Stockholm. Now Per must struggle with the ghosts that torment him every night in his cell as he attempts by day to convince the psychiatrist and the staff that he is sane and should be released. Will Per return to a normal life, or will he succumb to the ghosts keeping him at the asylum?
November 14th – 24th, 2024
Directed by Owen Robertson
Cast: Avry Eden, Caroline Jett, Judy Wilson, Rusty Gillespie, Amanda Cappello
Story Line:
Every quilt tells a story. Lisa has come to interview the neighborhood quilters club for the local paper. As she talks with the eclectic members, she learns about their very diverse backgrounds. Unbeknownst to Lisa, the club is actually interviewing her. Membership for this club is exclusive, and each member shares their stories with one another. These shared secrets are a prerequisite for membership. Over the course of months, Lisa’s need for inclusion in the club becomes more desperate. The members take action and Lisa becomes a full member of the quilters, stitching her life back together and knowing that as a member of the Crazy Quilters, she will have to pay-it-forward to the next new member. What is the Crazy Quilter’s secret? How does Lisa fit in? What is the benefit of membership and how will she pay-it-forward?
