Theatre Lab Receives Three Carbonell Award Nominations
Three productions at Theatre Lab, the professional resident company of Florida Atlantic University, have received Carbonell Award nominations for 2017. Established in 1975 to recognize and honor excellence in theater and the arts in South Florida, the Carbonell Awards are a hallmark celebrating the exceptional theatre works produced in our region. The nominations went to Niki Fridh for best supporting actor in “Most Wanted”; Kent Barrett for best scenic design in “Motherland”; and Karen Stephens for best actress in “Motherland.”
“The work of these three professionals exemplifies all of our artistic aspirations, and we are thrilled for them for this acknowledgment,” said Lou Tyrell, Theatre Lab’s artistic director. “It’s been a wonderful year, and we now look ahead toward an exciting and inspirational 2018.”
With its laboratory approach to new play development, Theatre Lab allows the FAU faculty and students, along with the entire South Florida community, to be an actual part of the artistic process, actively engaged by world-class professional theater performances, workshops and conversations with leading playwrights and theater artists. Under the leadership and guidance of Michael J. Horswell, Ph.D., new dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters at FAU, the Theatre Lab will expand its impact through greater participation and cooperation among departments throughout the University.
“This recognition affirms the incredible work our Theatre Lab is doing to bring entertaining, challenging and educational new plays to our campus and community,” said Horswell. “To the magic of live, professional theatre, our College faculty from many disciplines add enlightening pre-show lectures on themes related to the plays. You can’t get that at just any theater!”
Theatre Lab’s 2017-18 season continues in February with the opening of “The Revolutionists”:
THE 2018 THEATRE LAB MAINSTAGE SEASON
‘The Revolutionists’by Lauren Gunderson
Florida Premiere
Feb. 9- 25, 2018
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. ($35)
Preview Performance: Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018, 7:30 p.m. ($25)
Special opening weekend matinee: Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, 3 p.m. ($35)
True story? Total fiction? Or that special place where the two collide in your very own imagination? ~ Four women lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution. At the height of the Reign of Terror, playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, activist Marianne Angelle and former queen Marie Antoinette hang out, plot murder and try to beat back extremist insanity in Paris. This fantasia by one of the country’s most exciting playwrights considers how we actually go about changing the world. Advisory: “The Revolutionists” is appropriate for adults and older teenage audiences. These four women may wear corsets and wigs, but they have a distinctly modern (and hilarious) sensibility when it comes to very strong adult language and ousting political tyrants.
‘Be Here Now’by Deborah Zoe Laufer
Florida Premiere
April 6 – 22, 2018
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. ($35)
Preview Performance: Thursday, April 5, 2018, 7:30 p.m. ($25)
Special opening weekend matinee: Saturday, April 7, 2018, 3 p.m. ($35)
When life just seems too difficult to face, how far are we willing to go for love and happiness and to create meaning in our lives? ~ Two lost souls come together under most unusual circumstances in this deeply insightful and charmingly funny new play by the prolific Deborah Zoe Laufer (“The Three Sisters of Weehawken”). Surrounded by painfully cheerful co-workers, Bari is deeply cynical and woefully underemployed working at a small-town fulfillment center. After an unexpected and unexplainable turn of events, Bari finds herself on an enlightening new path. When she meets Mike, a man who makes art out of garbage, it is Bari’s turn to pull another out of the darkness. Advisory: “Be Here Now” is appropriate for adults and older teenage audiences. This searching story about existential happiness contains adult language, sexual content and other mature themes that are handled with both humor and honesty.
For more information about Theatre Lab, visit www.fau.edu/theatrelab.
-FAU-
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