LOUISE WIGGLESWORTH EXCELLENCE IN PLAYWRITING NEW PLAY CONTEST

As a teaching theater, one of the things The Lab does is promote the creation of new work. A play need to be heard and worked on before it is ready to be produced. The Lab accepts hundreds of scripts from around the world and selects the top three for a concert reading.

WINNER: Concert reading on 5/17 - Lumin by Emma Gibson 

The pigs are stressed, Liv won’t eat, and Ma wants everyone to follow the Constitutions. Set in a modern-day cult on the outskirts of the Chihuahuan desert in Texas, this new play about our need for community, asks why the line between delusion and what the rest of us believe, is getting blurrier than ever.

FINALIST: Concert reading on 5/16 - Virtual Reality by Wendy Vogel

Rebecca is used to men letting her down. Scarred by divorce, she avoids the real
world by playing a virtual reality roleplaying game. She isn't looking for romance
but she finds Paul, a widower crippled by grief from the death of his wife.
Through their in-game avatars they bond in the virtual world with no plans to
meet in the real one.

But when Rebecca's son is injured in a hate crime shooting, they both realize
they've become more than "gamer buddies." And when Paul's life is threatened,
they must face the fear of rejection and loneliness and leave their avatars behind
for a chance at a real life connection.

FINALIST: Annelies by Oded Gross 

The present collides with the past in the drama Annelies. Mourning the loss of his father, a
bereaved man in 2020 begins to keep a journal, only to find himself in correspondence with the
famous and tragic diarist, Anne Frank. A play about grief and friendship, Annelies explores the
strength and legacy of the written word, and its power to change our lives forever.