NORTH AMERICAN CULTURAL LABORATORY
A CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT, EXPLORATORY PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
We are an artist-run, member-supported, nonprofit residency center dedicated to research and development in the performing arts. Join us in support of artists creating new works by attending work-in-progress presentations, subscribing to “The Periodic Table,” and/or making a tax-deductible donation.
2025: YEAR IN REVIEW
DEEP SPACE RESIDENCIES
David Dorfman Dance - Photo by Maria Baranova
Two Sisters: Bailey Williams & Emma Horwitz
¡Oye! Group / Modesto 'Flako' Jimenez
Rima Fand - Photo by Cecilia Du Bucourt
The Hinterlands - Photo by Kat Schleicher
The Outrage: A Queer Writers' Residency
THE DEEP SPACE PERFORMANCE RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Deep Space supports the development of new work by established and emerging artists and groups who make devised, original, or ensemble performance. The program allows artists time and space to experiment — to explore new ideas or dig deeper into ongoing projects — and to refine artistic choices for performance works in various stages of development. Each residency incorporates a public sharing of work-in-progress with an audience accustomed to engaging with raw material and curious about all stages of the artistic process. These public exchanges can take the form of informal discussions, readings, trial runs, or full productions, and are typically followed by a simple shared meal.
2023 - Transforma Theatre - "Bioadapted"
2017 - Purva Bedi, Kristin Marting, & Mariana Newhard - "Assembled Identity"
2014 - Lightning Rod Special - "The Underground Railroad Game"
2023 - Earls to Gearls
2015 - The Assembly - "33 Demon Teeth"
2023 - Deepali Gupta - "United States v. Gupta"
2019 - Justin Hicks and The HawtPlates - "Water Boy and the Mighty World"
2023 - Bread Arts Collective - "Roar!"
2018 - The Drunkard's Wife (Normandy Sherwood & Craig Flanagin) - "Madame Lynch"
2016 - A Host of People - "The Golden Record"
2019 - ¡Oye! / Modesto 'Flako' Jimenez - "Taxilandia"
2017 - Bread Arts Collective - "Rise and Fall"
NACL SPACES
One of our greatest resources is space, both interior and exterior. The theatre and adjacent 12-bedroom artist residence allow concentrated time for groups and individuals to focus on creative work. The surrounding environs of lake and woodland provide both an invaluable insulation from mundane concerns and fresh inspiration for the spirit.
THE PERIODIC TABLE
The Periodic Table is our online journal of inquiries and findings that provides a forum for members near and far to engage with the work.
SPACE-TIME
Over a Quarter-Century of Exploration and Discovery
In 2022 NACL marked 25 years as an organization committed to fostering new works in the performing arts. The following slideshow was created to commemorate this anniversary and pay tribute to the countless artists who have passed in and out of the doorways (and windows) and given something of themselves that lingers in the walls and the ceilings and the floors of Lakewood House and St. Bernardine’s lakeside chapel.
Soundtrack from the NACL production The Uncanny Appearance of Sherlock Holmes, 2008; Music by Glenn Hall, Lyrics by Brett Keyser; Performed by Hall, Keyser, and Sarah Dey Hirshan