North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL)

Founded in 1997 by a collective of theater artists seeking an alternative to urban production pressures, the North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) operates from a converted church in the Catskills, offering residencies that prioritize process over product. Its Deep Space Performance Residency, established in 2005, invites artists from across disciplines to develop new work in a retreat-like setting, with a focus on experimentation and cross-pollination. NACL's ethos is rooted in the belief that sustained, unhurried time is a radical act in contemporary performance, and that the rural context fosters a unique attentiveness to the material conditions of creation.