Be a part of Summer Test Kitchen 2026! Apply by Monday, May 4
Apply by Monday, May 4 to be a part of Summer Test Kitchen 2026. We'll be developing four projects over two weeks. Learn more and submit your application now. One application per person; you can indicate multiple positions you’d like to apply/audition for.
This is an excellent opportunity to work with professional artists from the biggest Seattle regional theatres as well as nationally known playwrights, gain experience developing new works - and get paid for your work!
Be sure to follow the links to learn more about these amazing artists we are bringing to WWU.
Scripts are available to check out in the Theatre and Dance office in PA 395. You can’t take the scripts away, but you can read them using the chairs outside the office.
Project dates and summary
Week 1
- Dates: July 13 - 17
- Time: Daily, 10 AM - 1 PM; 2 PM – 5 PM
- Description: Create/Develop "Problematic Word Play" by Idris Goodwin, and "Fission" with Seattle Repertory Theatre
- Staged readings on Friday, July 17
Week 2
- Dates: July 20 – 24/25
- Time: Daily, 10 AM – 1 PM; 2 PM - 5 PM; late morning July 25
- Description: Develop "Eve’s Ale" with Union Arts, and "The Cutter Incident" by Doug Wright for LaJolla Playhouse
- Staged readings Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25 - for "The Cutter Incident" only
Project description
Project #1: Creation/development of "Problematic Word Play"
- Written by Idris Goodwin, former SCT Artistic Director & current ASU playwriting professor
- July 13 through 17
The company will meet for six hours per day (10 to 1; 2 to 5) for five days. The play is not written yet, our work will be to assist the playwright in their work to generate his first full-draft. We will conclude our development workshop with an “in progress” staged reading, open to the public, on July 17th. Students, including those graduating this spring, can submit an application for the six acting positions or one stage manager position. Evan is directing; Dr. Christina is the dramaturg. Acting positions include a $575 stipend; the stage manager position receives a $650 stipend (for additional time/work).
Project #2: Development of the play "Fission"
- by Cindy Lou Johnson
- directed by Seattle Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez
- July 13 through 17
The company will meet for six hours per day (10 to 1; 2 to 5) for five days to develop the play. We will conclude our development workshop with an “in progress” reading, open to the public, on July 17th. Students, including those graduating this spring, can submit an application for the stage manager position and the five acting positions. Rich and Eva are acting; the Rep is bringing a dramaturg & one or two professional actors. More info on roles to come. The acting positions include a $575 stipend; the stage manager position includes a $650 stipend (for additional time/work).
Project #3: Development of the play "Eve’s Ale"
- by Shanna Allman
- directed by Union Arts Artistic Associate Shana Bestock
- July 20 through 24
- Union Arts is the combination of ACT Theatre & Seattle Shakespeare
The company will meet for six hours per day (10 to 1; 2 to 5) for five days to develop the play. We will conclude our development workshop with an “in progress” reading, open to the public, on July 24th. Students, including those graduating this spring, can submit an application for the stage manager position and the two acting positions. Eva is acting. More info on roles to come. The acting positions include a $575 stipend; the stage manager position includes a $650 stipend (for additional time/work).
Project #4: Development of the play "The Cutter Incident"
- by Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright Doug Wright
- director TBA; for LaJolla Playhouse
- July 20 through 25
The company will meet for six hours per day (10 to 1; 2 to 5) for five days to develop the play, then for four hours on Saturday for an additional reading on Lummi Island. We will conclude our development workshop with “in progress” readings, open to the public - July 24 on campus and July 25 on Lummi Island. Note that Lummi Island can only be reached by ferry. Students, including those graduating this spring, can submit an application for the stage manager position and the six acting positions. Evan and Rich are acting; Dr. Christina is dramaturg. More info on roles to come. The acting positions include a $650 stipend; the stage manager position includes a $725 stipend (for additional time/work).
Project Descriptions
Problematic Word Play
Problematic Word Play will be a new kind of Break Beat Ensemble Investigative Performance Essay. A character-centered conversation in verse, heavy with interstitial and meta qualities. My task is to make links between the poetics of William Shakespeare and that of contemporary rap artists.
The spirit of this effort is understanding and ultimately closing the gap. The undercurrent here is the power and influence of poetic language. As such, "Problematic Word Play" celebrates the adventurous spirit of the lyricists of the living stage, in form and content, as it poses questions and presents theories. What is the history, growth, and development of the Shakespeare Industrial Complex vs The Hip Hop Industrial Complex?
Fission
In Nazi Germany in 1938 two scientists, one a Jewish woman, Lise Meitner, the other a non-Jewish man, Otto Hahn, make one of the greatest discoveries of the twentieth century: Fission. But the splitting of the atom, which leads to the devastation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, also blows to smithereens their thirty-year partnership, one of the most fruitful and distinguished scientific relationships of all time.
Eve’s Ale
A gritty feminist manifesto. Desire for self-reliance, and the need for love, collide in a small western town in 1886, as two women, compromised by a world built by and for men, fight for agency, self-actualization, and ultimately, one another. A fiercely and unapologetically female story set to the tune of a classic western. Female Autonomy - Resiliency – Misogyny
The Cutter Incident
A historical play about Jonas Salk and his struggle to create the polio vaccine, and his resulting challenge to get his vaccine accepted and adopted by the US government and medical world, focusing on his contentious relationship with fellow vaccine researcher Albert Sabin. In short, a play for our time in 2026.
