ColLABo

A one-of-a-kind laboratory for theater makers

ColLABo is a production development incubator–housed on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus–where theater makers from multiple disciplines come together to wrestle with production-related challenges on a project they intend to have produced. ColLABo is designed to be a director-centered and design-led process, giving creative teams valuable time, space, and resources to explore their projects and problem-solve before they dive into the production pressure cooker.

HOW COLLABO WORKS

Creative teams made up of four artists (which must include at least one director and one designer) who are working together on a theatrical project join us in Pittsburgh for two weeks at the end of May/early June. ColLABo 2025 will take place May 26–June 9, 2025. We provide on-campus housing, airfare or gas reimbursement to travel to and from Pittsburgh, and a $500/week stipend for all participants. Teams work out of the Purnell Center of the Arts – home to Carnegie Mellon University’s prestigious School of Drama – and have access to School of Drama resources and artists, as well as local Pittsburgh theater practitioners. Throughout this two-week process, teams explore and create solutions for specific production-related challenges within their theatrical projects.

WHO IS RIGHT FOR COLLABO?

We are seeking diverse cohorts of American theater artists who are working with a particular focus on developing new stories that center marginalized voices OR reinterpretations of established plays to explore diverse perspectives. We are looking for teams that have very specific production-related challenges to explore. As a director- and designer-led process, ColLABo is meant to support production development more so than script development.

Applications for ColLABo 2025 are open now!
Apply before January 31, 2025.

Questions? Email collabo@andrew.cmu.edu

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Past ColLABo Projects

Two prop blue birds and a pair of sunglasses in a vase, surrounded by foam peanuts.

PLASTIC NEST – 2024

“Plastic Nest” by Tracy Held was part of ColLABo 2024. The team explored different ways to depict the bird characters in the play through movement, puppetry, and design.

A woman wearing a white dress and white feather on her head poses behind a shadow screen; a man with a camera films her.

DR. REES ZITI’S PAGEANT FOR A BETTER FUTURE – 2024

“Dr. Rees Ziti’s Pageant for a Better Future” was a project workshopped during ColLABo 2024 by The Bellwether Project. Their team explored how to use live camera media in concert with a live action play.

A student in a black box theater blows into a recorder-like instrument.

THE MOURNERS – 2023

“The Mourners,” a new play by Rivka Rivera, was workshopped during ColLABo 2023. Here, sound designer Tate Abdullah creates a live soundscape for an on-stage hurricane.

A lighting board in a dark blackbox theater; actors in the background on prop furniture.

39 REVOLUTIONS – 2023

“39 Revolutions” by Alex Lin was workshopped during ColLABo 2023 and explored how lighting design could help tell the story.

Two people looking at a script.

THE MOURNERS – 2023

Moire Díaz and Francisco Rivera Rodríguez work on a scene during a workshop of “The Mourners” by Rivka Rivera during ColLABo 2023.

In a black box theater, rice falls from the ceiling with actors on stage

THE MOURNERS – 2023

“The Mourners” by Rivka Rivera has a hurricane happen on stage. During ColLABo 2023, their team created it by dropping rice from the grid in the Rauh Theater.

A person sits looking at a computer screen running a media program.

DR. REES ZITI’S PAGEANT FOR A BETTER FUTURE – 2024

Kolton Cotton worked as a media consultant with The Bellwether Project‘s “Dr. Rees Ziti’s Pageant for a Better Future.” Their team explored how to use live camera media in concert with a live action play during ColLABo 2024.

Two prop blue birds and a pair of sunglasses in a vase, surrounded by foam peanuts.

PLASTIC NEST – 2024

“Plastic Nest” by Tracy Held was part of ColLABo 2024. The team explored different ways to depict the bird characters in the play through movement, puppetry, and design.

A woman wearing a white dress and white feather on her head poses behind a shadow screen; a man with a camera films her.

DR. REES ZITI’S PAGEANT FOR A BETTER FUTURE – 2024

“Dr. Rees Ziti’s Pageant for a Better Future” was a project workshopped during ColLABo 2024 by The Bellwether Project. Their team explored how to use live camera media in concert with a live action play.

A student in a black box theater blows into a recorder-like instrument.

THE MOURNERS – 2023

“The Mourners,” a new play by Rivka Rivera, was workshopped during ColLABo 2023. Here, sound designer Tate Abdullah creates a live soundscape for an on-stage hurricane.

A lighting board in a dark blackbox theater; actors in the background on prop furniture.

39 REVOLUTIONS – 2023

“39 Revolutions” by Alex Lin was workshopped during ColLABo 2023 and explored how lighting design could help tell the story.

Two people looking at a script.

THE MOURNERS – 2023

Moire Díaz and Francisco Rivera Rodríguez work on a scene during a workshop of “The Mourners” by Rivka Rivera during ColLABo 2023.

In a black box theater, rice falls from the ceiling with actors on stage

THE MOURNERS – 2023

“The Mourners” by Rivka Rivera has a hurricane happen on stage. During ColLABo 2023, their team created it by dropping rice from the grid in the Rauh Theater.

A person sits looking at a computer screen running a media program.

DR. REES ZITI’S PAGEANT FOR A BETTER FUTURE – 2024

Kolton Cotton worked as a media consultant with The Bellwether Project‘s “Dr. Rees Ziti’s Pageant for a Better Future.” Their team explored how to use live camera media in concert with a live action play during ColLABo 2024.