BARN LAB

WHAT IS BARN LAB? BARN LAB is InvulNos’ yearly generative residency with a focus on new and unpremiered performance work. For the last five years it was hosted at Wanderwood, a sustainable farm in Nobleboro, ME. In 2026, for the lab’s 6th edition, it will be hosted in Bath, Somerset via the new Bath Laboratory of Culture. We feel lucky to bring the lab to Bath this year, a city where we have premiered and developed 5 of the company’s 10 previously produced works, via BLOC and to return to a focus on solo work for this edition. Over the course of 10 days, facilitators and project originators will gather together to develop projects collectively and apart. Wherever helpful, a company of resident actors drawn from InvulNos associate artists will be made available to lead artists, to better allow drafting via bodies in space, a cornerstone of the Barn Lab experience.

Submissions to BARN LAB 2026 are now OPEN! Submissions should be text based, atleast in part, and should not have received a full premiere; we look for works actively in process. We are most interested in projects (and language!) that are risk taking and formally ambitious. Please note we are unable to host collectives or companies as part of the residency. In 2026, Barn Lab will develop full length solo works across live mediums as part of the lab; please do not submit short works or film scripts! BARN LAB is intended as time away to reset as well as to investigate exciting artistic impulses: all room and travel expenses are covered by the company, with stipends of £432 per participant to cover food and other expenses while operating as part of the lab. The acting cohort is by invitation and built around selected projects, when required.

To apply, please provide a script draft, a detailed pitch book, or both to invulnerablenothings@gmail.com and submit this application form by August 28th. All applicants will be notified of their application status by September 1st!

HISTORY 2021-2025: In June 2021, Invulnerable Nothings hosted our inaugural BARN LAB. This generative residency in Maine marked the company’s first in person work in over 18 months interpandemic, with lab participants gathering both in person and virtually for the hybrid development of several texts. Our 2021 projects were CJ Turner-McMullan’s THUNDER, an adaptation of John Webster’s The White Devil set in present day Arizona, and Matthew Gasda’s ALL THE MOURNFUL VOICES, a lyrical exploration of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. InvulNos also resumed work on the company’s production of John Ford’s THE BROKEN HEART and workshopped Asta Nielsen’s HAMLET. 2021 performers in residence included Lauren Guglielmello, Charlie Munn, George Olesky, Derrick Peterson, Sophie Mae Reppert, Jake Robertson, and Kristin Winters alongside project facilitator C.C. Kellogg and the playwrights.

Our 2022 playtexts in development Week I were Sophie Dushko’s GALATEA 2.0, which combines the Pygmalion myth, love dolls, and incel culture; Pamela Enz's FALLING SIDEWAYS OFF THE EDGE OF THE EARTH, an experimentation in mysterianism; and Joe Zarrow’s HELLMOUTH, a neo medieval mystery play detailing the 1980s Satanic Panic. Our solo-focused Week II program supported new projects by Adrian Collins (Your Best Odd Girl Out), Caitlin Gaspar, Joe Medeiros (Odyssey Book 3), and Kristin Winters (Hildegard Von Bingen) and skills building from Vincent Santvoord and Sarah Quigley. The 2022 Barn Lab acting company consisted of River Carlyle, Adrian Collins, Alida Rose Delaney, Vincent Santvoord, Sarah Quigley, and our wonderful playwriting cohort.

Barn Lab in 2023 again developed two scripted projects in its first week as well as a series of self generated works in the second week. BARN LAB Week I (script and playwright focus) centered on Libby Carr’s CALF SCRAMBLE and Daniel Duren’s COME WINTER. The acting company consisted of Beatriz Castro, Sophie Dushko, Lauren Guglielmello, Maya Moravec, and Sigrid Sutter. Week II (generative project focus) centered on devised works by Lauren Guglielmello, John King & Allie Marotta, and Ross Pasquale. The 2023 lab was co-facilitated by C.C. Kellogg and Vincent Santvoord.

The 2024 edition was again co-facilitated by C.C. Kellogg and Vincent Santvoord in a nine day September format. 2024 plays in residence were Gardens @ Glennshead by kanishk pandey and The Cubic by Mallory Jane Weiss; the acting company included Adrian Collins, Katie Kane, Khyati Sehgal, Nicole Chaffin, and Santvoord. The 2024 lab culminated in two developmental readings generously hosted by Strong Rope Brewery in October and November, with additional readers Sasha Young, Sophie Dushko, and Lauren Guglielmello.

Barn Lab returned to Wanderwood in fall 2025 for its 5th installment, focusing on THE WHOLE SKY ALL DIAMONDS by Bixby Elliott and GOING AWAY PARTY by Lydia Reiss. The acting company included Felix Teich, Lauren Guglielmello, Vincent Santvoord, and Zoe Laiz.