By Dale King
Theatre Lab — the professional resident performance company at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton – received the 2022 Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence during the 45th annual Carbonell Awards presentation held Nov. 7 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center in Lauderhill.
That particular honor, established in 2006 and named for the late theater writer and journalist for the Miami News and South Florida Sun-Sentinel, is given to the theater company that exemplifies excellence for the totality of its programming: productions, educational outreach, developmental programs and audiences served.
Previous Von Maurer award winners include Palm Beach Dramaworks (2020); City Theatre (2015); Maltz Jupiter Theatre (2011) and Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre (2007).
“We’re all incredibly humbled and honored by this recognition and deeply grateful to everyone who has and continues to make our work possible,” said Matt Stabile, producing artistic director at Theatre Lab who accepted the award in front of a nearly full audience on awards night.
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Established in 2015, Theatre Lab is housed on the Boca Raton campus in the intimate 99-seat Heckscher Stage theatre space. While at the podium, Stabile joked that Theatre Lab was created in a building on campus that once housed a frozen yogurt shop. He noted with a laugh how easy it would be to continue dispensing the delicious confection, if necessary.
He said Theatre Lab’s mission to “inspire, develop and produce new work, artists and audiences” engages the South Florida community with world-class professional theatre performances, workshops and conversations with leading playwrights and theatre artists.
As one of the only companies in the area exclusively dedicated to “new work,” Theatre Lab has shared 16 world, U.S., and regional premiere productions with the South Florida community.
With the goal of establishing South Florida as a national force in the new play movement, Theatre Lab offers several reading and development events, including the annual New Play Festival and the Playwright’s Forum & Master Class Series, each season. These events have been home to more than 100 developmental readings of new plays by visiting playwrights from across the country.
Eleven of Theatre Lab’s full productions have come directly from these events and countless others have received productions across the country — including such notable locations as the Humana Festival and Broadway.
For more information about Theatre Lab, visit www.fau.edu/theatrelab.