ABOUT THE OP PERFORMANCE LAB
The Orchard Project Performance Lab is a self-directed lab for theatremakers, writers, composers, teams, companies, and ensembles looking for time, resources, and support for projects in any stage of development. As The Orchard Project’s oldest program, the Performance Lab has historically been form-fitting in-person residency during which artists are provided with rehearsal space, room and board, and the community of their fellow artists-in-residence. The Performance Lab takes place in person in Saratoga each summer.
As a participant in the Performance Lab, you will be expected to:
- Clearly communicate your project’s stage of development + specific needs with regards to space and rehearsals prior to the beginning of the lab;
- Share your progress with your Performance Lab community while in residence, or in rare cases, solely OP staff.
In the Performance Lab, you can expect:
- Access to free rehearsal space;
- Room and board onsite at Skidmore College in the company of your fellow residents;
- Open rehearsals during which peers and industry professionals can view your work;
- Feedback and support from OP staff and fellow artists-in-residence at your request.
- A community of diverse projects and artists, providing a supportive environment for you to work alongside and support a range of artists through sharings and OP community events.
- In addition, while some Performance Lab residencies exist within the confines of our artistic community, others include public sharing resources and opportunities, and these are specified in advance. All residencies, both private and public facing, overlap, and are all part of the same OP community.
- Ongoing alumni artist resources and future-driven support through OP Forward.
Apply to the OP's 2025 Labs
Submissions for all 2025 labs are due by December 15, 2024.
Learn more about our 2024 artists
The Orchard Project Performance Lab is an accelerator for any project in the live performance space. Selected participants can by individuals, teams, and companies who are excited and committed to the development of their work with an appetite for feedback in a group of diverse and similarly passionate peers. They are curious about understanding and developing their own work and world building with the goal of innovative creativity.
The selected participants are chosen through a rigorous outreach and selection process, open to the public. As with all the Orchard Project labs, participants will join with varying degrees of professional experience, but will likely have some history of manifesting their creative work in public before joining the Orchard Project community. Anyone can apply, there is no age requirement, and applicants can be either represented by an agent or not. To honor the history of the Orchard Project and the constituency it serves, the program will aim to include at least some with a live performance interest or background.
The Orchard Project’s Performance Lab will be organized into 4 sessions. We will ask you which session you are available in the interview process. You will not be invited to join if you are only available for part of a session. Please find the session dates below:
Session 1: Mon, June 16 – Fri, June 20, 2025
Session 2: Sun, June 22 – Sat, June 28, 2025
Session 3: Mon, June 30 – Fri, July 4, 2025
Session 4: Sun, July 6 – Sun, July 13, 2025
The Orchard Project is honored to be partnering again with Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs for its Performance Lab.
All Orchard Project Lab participants begin their labs with a group orientation in Orchard Project Creative Vocabulary, outlining both the process and facilitation vocabulary that serves as a foundation for artists and work during their Orchard Project experience.
Lab participants will also be able to sign up for individual office hours with OP staff and facilitators as desired.
- The Orchard Project Performance Lab is free for invited artists to participate in. There is also no fee to submit.
- The Orchard Project’s Performance Lab requires each artist to agree to both the Orchard Project’s general participation policies (LINK), and an agreement that, while not providing any royalty or compensation to the Orchard Project, allows projects developed through the program to credit their participation in it.
- The focus of our labs is on the creation of self directed progress, peer and industry community. The Orchard Project, however, does have particular resources that it allocates to work after labs through our new OP Forward Program. We know that these resources/options are not an ideal match for all participants, but in certain circumstances, the Orchard Project and artist may continue to work together on the development and advocacy of their work after the program, in which case other arrangements will be made on a case by case basis.
All artists and participants in OP Labs will be invited to participate in annual Community Learning events, a series of weekly panels and conversations with leading artists, practitioners, and industry working in all the various forms. From discussions about television writing rooms, case studies in digital performance, best practices for collaboration (both in the room and in a contract), to pitching workshops, these events will provide all OP artists – across all our labs – to join in a community wide conversation about where storytelling will be heading in the future.
To submit your work to the Orchard Project Performance Lab, CLICK HERE. Our Open Submission Window for 2025 labs closes on December 15, 2024.
Full information about how the submission process for The Orchard Project works, click here.
In addition to project description and biographical information asked for in our new common application, we are asking those submitting to the Performance Lab to provide:
A writing sample or other work sample.