Rogue Lab New Play Incubator

Access to tech and creative industry employment

San Fernando Valley Central LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

There is a distinct lack of apprenticeship and mentorship opportunities for young theatre artists transitioning from the university setting into professional life, particularly when it comes to theatre that is experimental in form or subject. This is especially true for directors and designers who fall into the trap of not being hired due to lack of experience, but cannot gain experience without someone offering an opportunity. For small theatre in LA, this is especially problematic.
The Rogue Lab New Play Incubator was built as a training ground for artists to development of daring, impossible plays that are pushing the boundaries of form, content, and theatrical magic. The first years of this program has focused on early and mid-career professionals; this new season will focus on pairing emerging talent with mentors in their field are who mid-career—who will work alongside each other on developing new work and share knowledge and networks.

The Rogue Lab is an incubator for new work that stretches the boundary of what is currently being done onstage, including immersive experiences, interactive design, puppet plays and genre-bending pieces that fit within the Rogues’ Hyper-theater aesthetic. Through the Lab, Rogue commissions and guides playwrights in writing new impossible plays that push the boundaries of traditional theatrical thinking, form, content, and theatrical magic—from idea to first draft, with a commitment to engaging both artists and audiences.
Rogue pairs playwrights with directors and designers from the very beginning, allowing the visual and audio language of the work be in conversation from the very beginning, and ensuring that the unique theatrical design of a new play is inherent in its very DNA.
In Rogue Lab: Generations, Rogue will take this program a step further by uplifting the next generation of artists; alongside professional theatre makers, Rogue will commission emerging artists, with an emphasis on female, gender expansive, and BIPOC artists ages 18-26, to create new work, pairing them with mentors who will help guide them through the new play process, offer feedback, and support their future career aspirations. The Lab will culminate in a public reading series of all the projects created in the Lab.

The Lab was created in response to a need in the grassroots theatre community for smaller, simpler, often unimaginative work that is not as expensive to produce. Through the Lab, we provide a supportive, safe space for artists to generate new boundary-pushing work, encouraging creative problem-solving to create theatrical magic, as well as the resources and mentorship to bring that work to the stage.
The hope is that this program will uplift a new generation of theater artists who are brave and ready to creative-problem solve, preparing them for their continued careers and enriching the artistic community across Los Angeles.