LAB! Theatre Company advertises itself as the oldest, largest and most active student-led production company on campus, something they are trying to show through their upcoming Original Work Festival.
The festival, which will be held in late February, is designed to be a diverse platform for student-written theatrical works. Any UNC student can submit a play, musical or staged reading, and a select few will be chosen to be produced by LAB! Theatre.
“The beauty of the way we are trying to structure this is we are open to any kind of proposal. I would love to see a straight drama and then the next day a musical,” said junior Rob Piscitelli, the co-executive director of LAB! Theatre.
The idea behind the festival was a collaborative effort, but was mainly driven by the amount of works LAB! Theatre received when they announced they would fully produce and workshop one student-written play this semester. Though a play written by UNC student Gage Tarlton was eventually chosen, LAB! Theatre didn’t want to immediately disregard the other submissions.
“We decided that we would want to get those people involved as much as possible,” sophomore Andrew Linden, a production apprentice for LAB! Theatre, said.
Linden said LAB! Theatre is hoping this festival will expand its image beyond traditionally structured plays and allow students to feel recognition in their ability as playwrights, no matter how big or small their submission is.
Sophomore LJ Enloe is hoping to participate in the festival as a writer and director after having been involved with several productions for LAB! Theatre last year.
“It’s for people who had ideas and want to expand on them,” Enloe said. “Like me, I didn’t really have a whole thing, but now I’m fleshing it out.”
Enloe also said producing diverse works during the festival is important to the group.
