After more than 10 years of providing FAU and the South Florida theatre community with world-premiere plays, Theatre Lab is set to “level up.” For the company’s 2026-2027 season, it will graduate from its longtime location—an unused cafeteria space in FAU’s Parliament Hall dormitory—into a space designed to accommodate the demands of professional theatre: the University’s Studio One Theatre, a 200-seat venue that also presents FAU student productions.
“As much as we love the current space and all the memories we’ve created in it, the time has come for us to leave our ‘little yogurt shop,’” says Matt Stabile, producing artistic director of Theatre Lab. “While we’ll certainly miss some of the charm and quirks of our current space, our goals for growth and for continuing to provide a ‘new play experience second-to-none’ require us to begin producing in a space with the equipment, facilities and seating capacity which more closely resemble current industry standards. While we might be in a new space, we’ll still be the same Theatre Lab you’ve come to know and love—just with some fancier toys, more seating and actual dressing rooms!”
Theatre Lab has achieved a great deal of success despite the limitations of its current space, mounting more than 30 productions and staging more than 100 developmental readings. Many have been nominated for Carbonell Awards for theatrical excellence, with the company winning two such statuettes at the latest ceremony last month.
The move accommodates a win-win situation for the university, which needs Theatre Lab’s current digs for additional student housing to accommodate its booming enrollment. The company, while operating in the Studio One Theatre beginning next season, will eventually receive its own permanent space on campus, a testament to university officials’ support of the nonprofit theater.
“We are all deeply grateful for Theatre Lab’s invaluable addition to our college and programs,” said Michael Horswell, Ph.D., dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, in a statement. “Their work here in our community and budding national reputation have also helped to raise the profile of our programs, and we are very excited about the amazing opportunities this collaboration will generate.”
Audiences have two more chances to see Theatre Lab productions in the company’s humble original space. “CONVERSA” runs Feb. 7-22, and “INFERNA” plays April 11-26; both are part of a trilogy of work from playwright Joanna Castle Miller. For tickets, call 561/297-6124 or visit fauevents.com.
For more of Boca magazine’s arts and entertainment coverage, click here.
