Apply to the OP's 2023 Labs
Applications open on Nov 1 and are due by Jan 2, 2023.
The Orchard Project is proud to announce its 2023 lab programs, which continue to evolve in response to the ongoing challenges and opportunities facing performing artists nationally and worldwide. Our goal remains simple — to support the most innovative artists and diverse voices, helping creators to explore, create, and share their work in new ways. 2023 will welcome an even greater return to in-person labs, but will still allow opportunities for artists to participate in labs from around the country and world.Â
In addition to our annual Episodic, Audio, and Greenhouse Labs, our Performance Lab will return in full form in 2023, but will diverge into various threads based on the needs of various projects and the resources available (cohort based development vs in-person rehearsal room development).Â
In 2023, the Orchard Project is accepting applications for the following programs:
- The Orchard Project Performance Lab, for development of work intended to be performed infront of a live or virtual audience.
- The Orchard Project Greenhouse Program, for collaborators generating new works and collaborations in a multitude of forms;
- The Orchard Project Episodic Lab, for writers working on the advancement of original TV scripts;
- The Orchard Project Audio Lab, for early development of scripts and ideas in the audio storytelling form;
More on our Programming Opportunities for 2023
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic upended The Orchard Project’s ability to participate in a familiar ecosystem of artistic development, but with obstacles came opportunities to expand our reach and re-calibrate.Â
As we welcome greater returns of in-person labs, we also hope to honor the discoveries we made through engaging with virtual working methods. In 2023, we’re thrilled to offer virtual, hybrid, and in-person Labs.
PERFORMANCE LAB (VARIOUS FORMS):Â
Before the summer of 2020, the OP’s Performance Lab manifested as a vivid series of overlapping in-person residencies, where performing artists took advantage of time, space, and the direct support of on-campus artistic staff to accelerate their projects. When this in-person model became unsustainable and treacherous due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we shifted our programming to online Labs that served as consistent virtual support as performing artists navigated their practices amidst a global health crisis.Â
During this time, some work has thrived in hybrid environments, but for a lot of performance work, there is no replacement for in-person development on time-based performance projects. We thus have developed various threads of our Performance Lab, ranging from a hybrid “Draft Lab” and rehearsal room labs based out of NYC to full in-person residencies in Saratoga Springs. During our application process, we will seek to communicate with artists to understand which of these threads might be an ideal match.
EPISODIC AND AUDIO LABS (ONLINE WITH SUPPLEMENTARY IN-PERSON GATHERINGS):Â
Our Episodic, Audio, and new Adaptation Labs will hold open applications for hybrid Labs in Summer 2023. In these Labs, we will continue to build on the success of our virtual Lab settings — in particular, the virtual setting’s ability to unite an international and diverse cohort of high-caliber voices, while simultaneously providing each artist the autonomy to write freely from their own corner of the world.Â
While these Labs will be held mainly online, the OP will also hold some complementary in-person gatherings to strengthen the bonds and inspiration between our participants in their various locales.Â
GREENHOUSE (OPEN APPLICATIONS, HYBRID):Â
Our Greenhouse Program has successfully already moved back to a hybrid process in 2022, allowing for bi-weekly meetings to be complemented with various weekend intensives for group and project development. the Greenhouse program — dedicated to unexpected cross-disciplinary collaboration in a sustained year-long setting — is a very specific program for the OP, and is not project development based, prioritizing community and flexibility above the simple deliverable to a single project.