Frequently asked questions
How many projects are selected for The Ground Floor Summer Residency Lab?
Previous Summer Residency Labs have ranged between 13 and 22 projects. This number does vary year to year. Ultimately, the lab is built around the navigation of time, space, and financial resources with the intention to create a diverse cohort of artists across all individual identifiers and theatrical forms.
Given the artistic staff’s relationships with artists and their work, sometimes we will invite an artist directly. We always hold space for projects under commission or actively in development for Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s mainstage season.
What is the selection process for the Summer Residency Lab?
The application process is meant to allow the artistic staff to build a relationship with artists and their work — both new to Berkeley Rep and those artists with whom we have established relationships and would like to share a new project idea. Therefore, if you have any impulse to connect with the Berkeley Repertory Theatre artistic team, please submit an application for the Summer Residency Lab! Please note that the Summer Residency Lab is only one program within the initiatives of The Ground Floor, so this is only the beginning of your connection to Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
Throughout the years, we have used the applications as a way to get to know an artist and their intended project. In the last few years, we have received between 600 and 700 applications. Our staff and a highly curated panel of external readers evaluate each project application. From the application reading stage, a long list of projects moves on to a second round. Additional work samples may be requested at this stage. These are reviewed and discussed by the staff and reading panel to achieve a short list of about 50 projects. We then host a series of interviews between members of the artistic staff and the lead project artist(s).
During this interview, we are looking to understand the needs of the project: What can Berkeley Rep provide at this point of the project’s process? In reflecting to create a cohesive cohort, we are asking questions such as: What relationship will this artist(s) and project have to other projects? What feels like a balanced and exciting community? Is there interesting cross-pollination? Is this an inclusive and diverse lineup? Is there a variety of form and content?
When will I find out if I have been selected to be part of the Summer Residency Lab?
Applicants to be interviewed will be notified by Mar 1.
Applicants selected to be part of The Ground Floor Summer Residency Lab will be notified by May 1.
Should my application describe my dream residency, or basic project needs?
Both! Please be honest and transparent with what you are envisioning and what you believe you need at this stage of project development. What are you wishing to accomplish? What do you need to make this a reality (i.e. materials, people, time, and types of space)? Would you like to share this project with the artistic team, Summer Residency Lab cohort members, and/or community audience-at-large? This gives us some helpful parameters for budgeting and scope. We want to know what you’re dreaming about, and if we can’t realize the whole thing, we might be able to meet some needs towards continued project development.
How long is a residency?
Currently, we’re looking at hosting the Summer Residency Lab between Jun 16 and Jul 20, 2025. In the last few years, residencies have ranged between one to two weeks. This is another opportunity to tell us what your dream length is, as well as the minimum duration that would be useful for you. In addition, please be clear as to when you are best available during that time frame.
Do you accept musicals?
Yes! Again, in your project description, please be clear as to what you need at this stage of your project’s development.
Can I receive feedback on my submission?
Unfortunately, we do not provide personal feedback on submissions. Due to the small staff’s time limitations, we do not have the capacity to respond in detail to individual applications.
What does Berkeley Rep provide for the Summer Residency Lab?
All lead artists receive a small honorarium. If you are coming from out of town, we will provide travel and housing — if you do not have a place to stay in the Bay Area. We eat dinner together every night, and coffee and snacks are available all day. Actors and directors are paid in accordance with union agreements.
Can I submit more than one project?
Yes! We invite you to be a part of the curatorial process by limiting yourself to submitting two projects as the main artist contact. However, if another artist wants to list you as a co-collaborator, we completely understand.
Can I re-submit the project I applied with last year?
Yes, but we highly recommend you acknowledge this in your application and share how your project and needs have changed since the previous year(s). Have you done any work on the project since your last application? Why are you continuing to pursue the development of this particular project?
I’ve applied before and have not been chosen to participate in the Summer Residency Lab. Should I keep trying?
Yes! Many of our previous participants applied for years before receiving an invitation. As mentioned above, we use the application to build and/or deepen relationships with artists. We intend to move through a relational artistic process, but are unable to do that if you do not continue to connect with us and inform us on your artistic development and evolution. Rejection is hard, and we do not take this process lightly — so please keep trying.
Can I bring my own actors? Director? Dramaturg?
When you apply for a project, we invite you to list your co-collaborators. We think of these people as the artists you need to continue to develop your project — this includes a director, dramaturg, designer, choreographer, or actor(s). If there are people you dream of including or roles you would like to fill, please include that information as it can be part of the development process. This is yet another opportunity to share with us your dream residency needs, as well as the necessary needs of the project.
What if I don’t have collaborators yet?
Co-collaborators are not needed. Some artists need and want a space to complete research and accomplish some writing. If you are further along in your process, we love making connections, so would love to support you in identifying collaborators that could be part of this process with you. For some of the work to be heard and seen, we do hire local artists to work on Summer Residency Lab projects. Keep in mind that we are a very flexible program. We have hosted composers, musicians, playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, actors, dancers, and visual artists. We thrive on experimentation.
What if my question isn’t answered here?
Please contact us at groundfloor@berkeleyrep.org. We will respond at our earliest opportunity.
Special thanks
The Ground Floor is supported by Bank of America, The Maurer Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
What artists say about the Summer Residency Lab
Developing a play is mortifying. Everything is lousy and you keep fixing and you’re embarrassed to have written something that’s not working and given it to people who are trying to make it work. Ground Floor gathers many playwrights so we can all be mortified together, and find solidarity and inspiration to keep going and make it elegant and magical and luminous which sometimes, believe it or not, actually happens.
In their own quiet, unheralded way, the Berkeley Rep artistic team is spearheading a revolution. On the smallest level, they are dedicated to the nurturing of artists—feeding us, housing us, giving us time to create. But on the largest level possible, they are dedicated to nothing less than a wholesale change in the artistic landscape of our time.
Something that seems unique about The Ground Floor’s Summer Residency Lab is that all the projects are uniquely non-traditional in an exciting way, and that many of them are in earlier stages that often aren’t allowed in these better opportunities, where you get taken care of.