New Paradise Laboratories
Encyclopedia
New Paradise Laboratories (NPL) is a 501(c)(3) experimental theater ensemble based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. NPL collaborates with artists from a variety of disciplines, including web designers, visual artists, writers, philosophers, composers, and architects, as well as performers who work together to create interactive theater works.
Founded in 1996 by Whit MacLaughlin, NPL has created an average of one original performance work each year since its founding. Their work has been presented as part of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, the Humana Festival of New American Plays
, Children's Theatre Company
, and in residencies with universities all over the United States.
Description From the MAP Fund:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. NPL collaborates with artists from a variety of disciplines, including web designers, visual artists, writers, philosophers, composers, and architects, as well as performers who work together to create interactive theater works.
History
- New Paradise Laboratories (NPL) was founded to create surprising, meticulous, spiritually challenging, and wholly distinctive experimental theatre productions that investigate physical expression, on-stage and in life. These productions are assembled using collaborative creative processes developed by the company. The work tends to value wild humor, shock, a concern for history, a muscular visual sensibility, and a fascination with the utopian impulse. Furthermore, NPL uses the fruits of its experimentation to benefit the artistic and audience community as a whole.
Founded in 1996 by Whit MacLaughlin, NPL has created an average of one original performance work each year since its founding. Their work has been presented as part of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, the Humana Festival of New American Plays
Humana Festival of New American Plays
Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this prestigious event showcases new theatrical works and draws producers, critics,...
, Children's Theatre Company
Children's Theatre Company
The Children's Theatre Company is a regional theatre established in 1961 in Minneapolis, Minnesota specializing in plays for families and young audiences and the recipient of a 2003 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre...
, and in residencies with universities all over the United States.
Productions
| Year | Production | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Extremely Public Displays of Privacy | Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia Live Arts/ Philly Fringe participant |
| 2011 | FREEDOM CLUB | New York, NY | Off-off Broadway |
| 2010 | FREEDOM CLUB | Philadelphia, PA | With the Riot Group & Adriano Shaplin |
| 2009 | FATEBOOK: Avoiding Catastrophe One Party at a Time | Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia Live Arts Festival participant |
| 2008 | PROM | Philadelphia, PA | Barrymore Award nominee for Outstanding Choreography/Movement (Lee Ann Etzold and Whit MacLaughlin) |
| 2007 | BATCH: An American Bachelor/Ette Party Spectacle | Louisville, KY | Humana Festival of New American Plays participant |
| 2006 | PROM | Minneapolis, MN | Children's Theatre Company (second production) |
| 2005 | Planetary Enzyme Blues | Philadelphia, PA | PECO Energy Award nominee for Outstanding Lighting Design (Mark O'Maley) |
| 2004 | PROM | Minneapolis, MN | Children's Theatre Company |
| 2004 | Don Juan in Nirvana | Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia Live Arts Festival participant |
| 2003 | Rrose Selavy Takes a Lover in Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA | Barrymore Award nominee for Outstanding Ensemble in a Play |
| 2001 | This Mansion is a Hole | Philadelphia, PA | Barrymore Award nominee for Outstanding Sound Design (Whit MacLaughlin) |
| 2000 | The Fab 4 Reach the Pearly Gates | New York City, NY | Obie Award Winner |
| 1999 | Stupor | Philadelphia, PA | Barrymore Award nominee for Outstanding Choreography |
Extremely Public Displays of Privacy
Opening during the 2011 Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival, "Extremely Public Displays of Privacy" is an example of the interdisciplinary work of New Paradise Laboratories.Description From the MAP Fund:
- ...a cross-media theater performance that takes advantage of new modes of communication to give audience members long-term access to an immersive, multilayered performance experience. The work will look directly at issues surrounding the value of privacy and anonymity in a culture that is increasingly obsessed with metaphors of inter-connectivity, social access, and “data-veillance.”
- ...New Paradise Lab will enact these EXTREMELY PUBLIC DISPLAYS surreptitiously in public spaces and videotape them beneath the eye of the population at large. Audiences will gain access to the piece 1) online, 2) through GPS-tagged video clips accessible in the public sites where the piece will be shot, and finally, 3) in a live theater piece that will be a more traditional theatrical expression. [The] audience will “attend” the piece in all of these sites. Ultimately, the piece will interrogate the value of anonymity, the social demand for disclosure, the therapeutic value of transparency, and the efficacy of public action."
Company Members and Staff
- Whit MacLaughlin Artistic Director of New Paradise Laboratories. He has conceived, directed, and designed 9 original performance works with the company since its inception in 1996. Since 1978, he has acted in, directed, or written over 100 theatre productions.
- Lee Ann Etzold
- McKenna Kerrigan
- Jeb Kreager
- Mary McCool
- Aaron Mumaw
- Matt Saunders is a designer/performer for NPL.
- Inger Hatlen Managing Director has been with NPL since December 2006. She previously worked with Pig Iron Theatre CompanyPig Iron Theatre CompanyPig Iron Theatre Company is a multidisciplinary ensemble based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company has created over 23 original works over the past 14 years, performed both locally and internationally.- About :...
. - Emily Rea Production Manager and Dramaturg
- Jorge Cousineau Video and Sound Design
Grants and Awards
- 2010 Artist of the Year Jorge Cousineau by Philadelphia Weekly
- 2010 MAP Fund grant recipient
- 2007 F. Otto Haas Emerging Artist Award recipient Matt Saunders. Among the nominees were also Lee Ann Etzold and Jeb Kreager .
- 2006 Best of Philly: Theater Company by Philadelphia Magazine
- 2004 MAP Fund grant recipient
- 2003 to present Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour artist
- 2003 National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Pennsylvania Council on the ArtsPennsylvania Council on the ArtsThe Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.Established in 1966, its mission is "to foster the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and to broaden the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state." Each year...
Artistic Advancement Grant - 2002 Pew Charitable Trusts Fellowship in Performance Art Grant to Whit MacLaughlin
- 2000 Obie AwardObie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
"The Fab 4 Reach the Pearly Gates"