The Lab will take place July 6-26. 

Supervised by artistic director Philip Himberg and producing director Christopher Hibma, the Lab is one of 24 residency labs the Institute runs each year for independent artists in film and theatre. The program supports both emerging and established theatre-makers developing new works. During the three-week residency at Sundance Resort in Utah, projects are provided with rehearsal space, dramaturgical support and an acting company, culminating in a private presentation.

The projects for the 2015 are:

abominable
By Phillip Howze
Director TBA
The tragicomic story of a family who leaves on vacation just days prior the father being deployed for war. Their good-natured trip soon turns sour with principles and allegiances challenged in the process.  

Annie Salem: An American Tale
Adapted from the novel by Mac Wellman
Written and directed by Rachel Chavkin
Composer and co-lyricist: Heather Christian
Performer/Designer/Co-creator: Andrew Schneider
Blending social commentary, sci-fi and romance, it tells the story of teenage misfit Jack and his love for Annie. A surreal, experimental new musical adapted from Wellman's genre-defying novel.  awe/struck
by christopher oscar peña
Director TBA
The story of a life-changing chance encounter between two women in Chicago, one a stranger to the city; the other estranged in her own home. 

Catch The Wall
By Gabrielle Reisman
Directed by Colette Robert
Choreography by Ro Tyler
A New Orleans bounce MC and middle-schoolers Cleo and Justice plan to make a music video so the memory of their mentor’s can live on; but the ghost lives on and tangles with the lives of teachers and students as each fight to have their stories heard. 

Jonah
By Len Jenkin
Directed by Katherine Owens
A contemporary re-telling of the story of an unfaithful servant, taking the form of a bar band, a lounge singer, a biblical scholar, blind Mr. Bones, a storm at sea, three or four love stories, the evil city of Nineveh, a Dairy Queen, the reluctant prophet and the whale.

Sell/Buy/Date
By Sarah Jones
Director TBA
A multi-character, monologue play inspired by stories of people, especially women and girls, directly impacted by sex-trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. 

TAHA
By Amer Hlehel
English translation by Amir Nizar Zuabi
Director TBA
Based on the story of the acclaimed Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, whose work examines the experiences of Palestinian refugees. 

Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: Featuring TAYLOR MAC
Music Director/Arranger Matt Ray
Costume Design by Machine Dazzle
Co-Directed by Niegel Smith
A music theatre project depicting the history of the past 240 years in America, incorporating more than 30 performance art presentations that will culminate in a one-time only 24-hour event.

Today Is My Birthday
By Susan Soon He Stanton
Directed by Kip Fagan
Emily has a thousand friends on Facebook but nobody to have dinner with. Leaving NYC, she returns to her hometown in Hawaii where she creates an alter ego on live radio. The play is told through a mix of radio and phone calls. 

According to the Institute, more than 85 percent of works supported by Sundance find production. Other plays and musicals to find a home on or Off-Broadway include Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate, Adam Guettel & Craig Lucas' The Light in the Piazza, Moisés Kaufman's The Laramie Project and Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife.

For more information visit sundance.org/theatre.