By AARON KRAUSE

For a decade, Florida Atlantic University’s Theatre Lab in Boca Raton has offered a weekend-long series of new play readings. Now, the university’s professional resident theater company dedicated solely to new work has turned the annual event into a three-week festival featuring two full productions and readings.

FAU’s Boca Raton campus is located at 777 Glades Road. For specific directions to the venues on campus where shows will take place, go to fau.edu/theatrelab or call (561) 297-2337.

Saturday, April 5, will mark the official beginning of the 2025 “Owl” New Play Festival (named after the FAU Owls). It will kick off with Theatre Lab’s world premiere production of The Impossible Task of Today by Jeff Bower, directed by Theatre Lab Artistic Director Matt Stabile.

Then, the following Friday, April 11, FAU’s Department of Theatre & Dance will open a fully realized workshop production of The Frankenstein Project by E.M. Lewis. The production’s director is Margaret M. Ledford, Artistic Director of City Theatre Miami.

The festival’s third “main event” will launch on Saturday, April 12. It is a non-traditional theater experience combining scientific principles and theatrical imagination to introduce participants to exercises and experiences proven to boost happiness.

“This year’s inaugural festival features two very different plays which deal with remarkably similar themes and issues,” Stabile says. “Both plays focus on the difficulties of processing and moving through grief and how some of the new tools available – including social media and AI – can both assist and, potentially, destroy us.

“Ultimately, both remarkable stories remind us of the paramount importance of real human relationships and the power of hope, love, and resilience. With two plays centered on technology and well-being, it was only natural to include an event conceived from scientifically proven methods to boost happiness and authentic human connection.

In addition to the three main events, readings of new works will take place on the festival’s final two weekends (April 12-20). Those will include the first public readings of the winner of the 2025 Fair Play Initiative. That is a commission and development program for LGBTQ+ plays and stories made possible with support from Our Fund Foundation. Admission to the readings is free, although Theatre Lab encourages donations. The readings will take place in FAU’s Marleen Forkas Studio One Theatre.

“With our 10^th Anniversary season, we wanted to make a splash,” Stabile says. “This was the natural next step in our growth as a new play center. Folks can come to Boca for a weekend in April and be fully immersed in the world of new plays. The goal is to continue to expand this annual event, establishing Theatre Lab and FAU as a premiere national destination for new play development and production.”

Individual tickets range from $25-$60, depending on date, event, and seat selection. In addition, a discounted “Main Events” package allows people to choose their dates and times for all three ticketed events. The package costs $90. Tickets are available at www.fauevents.com, or by calling (561) 297-6124.

Following are descriptions of the shows in the inaugural Owl New Play Festival.

The Impossible Task of Today by Jeff Bower: Five years removed from tragedy, Jack, an agoraphobic online teacher has perfected his video game playing skills but severely neglected his hygiene, mental health, and dwindling number of personal relationships. When the grocery delivery guy is one of your best friends, something has got to give, and with the arrival of a home gym, everything will change. Jack truly believes it…even if no one else does.

The Impossible Task of Today is an audience favorite from Theatre Lab’s 2023 New Play Festival.

“This stunning new play uses humor and hope to explore issues of gun violence, mental health, and the dangers of social media – all while reminding us that the only way to move through difficult times is together,” reads a description of the play.

Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, as well as 3 p.m. Sunday. Saturday matiness (at 3 p.m.) will run on April 12 and 19. The play’s approximate run-time is 90 minutes without an intermission. Tickets are $35-$45. Opening night celebration with reception is $60. The venue is the Heckscher Stage. Pay-what-you-choose for preview performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2 and Friday, April 4.

The Frankenstein Project by E.M. Lewis: In 1816, Mary Shelley grieves for her lost child and conjures a creature that looks a lot like her beloved husband. Meanwhile, in the present, Mary Lattimore tries to write a paper about Shelley’s book for her high school English class. However, she gets distracted by her new friendship with an AI robot her father has created and brought home.

The Frankenstein Project is about the monsters we battle, the monsters we create, and the monsters we (sometimes) are.

Following Theatre Lab’s 2022 hit World Premiere production of her play, Dorothy’s Dictionary, award-winning playwright E.M. Lewis returns to the FAU campus with her newest creation.

“The Department of Theatre and Dance is proud to provide a first home for this exciting new script – connecting stories of the past with those we’re living in today!” a prepared statement reads.

Performances of The Frankenstein Project will begin at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, as well as 2 p.m. Sundays. Also, the university has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. Saturday matinee on April 19. The play’s approximate run-time is two hours and 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. Tickets are $25. The venue is Marleen Forkas Studio One Theatre

The Happiness Gym: a theatrical exercise in well-being created by Ken Weitzman and New Neighborhood based on an original concept by Ken Weitzman Brandstar Studio.

Since the early 2000s, there has been a large and successful movement in psychology to study happiness. Despite the huge number of books, apps, websites, toolkits, seminars, and podcasts on well-being, many people find themselves struggling to attempt or continue practices which have been empirically proven to boost happiness. One major reason is that the burden of it ultimately rests on the individual – as something like exercise often does. But what if we created more of a communal venture?

The Happiness Gym is an interactive, experiential, immersive event that theatricalizes empirical research on well-being and happiness. Over the course of 90 minutes, participants are welcomed into a theatrically designed space and guided through elegantly simple exercises and experiences which are scientifically-proven to boost happiness.

“It’s fun, beneficial, community-building, and ideally, provides skills with the potential to create lasting change,” reads a press release.

Developed and first piloted at Stony Brook University (NY), this first professional production of the project is a collaboration between playwright and educator Ken Weitzman, New Neighborhood, a theater company specializing in socially interactive installations, Theatre Lab, and FAU’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

The Happiness Gym is recommended for ages 16 and up. It requires participants to interact, handle lightweight objects, and maneuver through a space.

Start times are 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, as well as 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. from April 12-20. The approximate run-time is 90 minutes. Individual tickets cost $30. There is a strict limit of 16 participants per session. The venue is Brandstar Studio.

Readings of New Plays

Marleen Forkas Studio One Theatre. General admission, free with donations encouraged

2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12: Donner: An American Musical Tragedy by Cait Siobhan Kiley and Joel Rodriguez.

Noon Sunday, April 13: Original work from high school students in Theatre Lab’s LabRATS program.

7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16: Original short plays, scenes, and monologues from students in FAU’s Playwrighting 101.

Noon Saturday, April 19: The Last Queen of San Domino by Chandler Hubbard; 2025 Fair Play Initiative Commission.

For more information about Theatre Lab or the festival, go to www.fau.edu/theatrelab