The Ground Floor Summer Residency Lab invites artists to apply with projects that would benefit from a residency at Berkeley Repertory Theatre for one to two weeks. Applicants must be available for residency between Jun 16 and Jul 20, 2025.
We accept applications from artists at any stage of their artistic journey. We do accept applications from international artists. Previous applicants may reapply. We will provide transportation and housing for out-of-town residents, rehearsal space, basic technical support, and an honorarium.
Projects may be anywhere along their development path: from an idea (without anything on paper yet) to a complete draft of a text that has had previous workshopping elsewhere. Whether you are a writer simply needing a room in which to write or an ensemble wanting intensive rehearsal time, we encourage you to apply. Artists from other disciplines interested in creating theatre pieces are also welcomed to apply. If your project is ready for a small audience, we are happy to provide that, but there is no requirement for any kind of culminating sharing event. Past participants have held events open to the public, internal readings, no final sharing at all, and everything in between.
This is a developmental residency. Within the Summer Residency Lab, there is no capacity to provide a workshop or full production. If you are applying for an adaptation, please have the underlying rights already secured. Projects with a current draft of a script are invited to include a short sample of your work (please limit to 10 pages maximum) with the initial application. A work sample is not required if not applicable to where you are in your process.
We suggest you download and complete the application as a Word document and then cut/paste your answers into the online application form. Please note: this form does allow you to save the application midway through, but we highly recommend that you complete this in one sitting to avoid any errors or technical issues.
Need more detailed application insight?
Watch the info session with Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer and Associate Producer — New Work victor cervantes jr.
Questions? Please check our FAQ page. If your question is not answered there, email us at groundfloor@berkeleyrep.org.
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
Ground Floor was deeply transformative to our play. The workshop helped us feel empowered to break free of some of our (self-imposed) structural rigidity. Thanks for finding the money and the space and the energy to make it happen. Thanks to our time in Berkeley, our ensemble relationship is deeper and more filled with loving trust.
The Ground Floor is a rare program. It is a residency that allows their artists to pivot and potentially redefine how they will work on a project. There are not many programs that have both the infrastructural flexibility and the deep understanding of artistic process to shift that rapidly.