New Victory LabWorks

Established in 2012, New Victory LabWorks supports New York-based artists of all disciplines in making works that challenge common preconceptions about theater for young audiences.

New Victory LabWorks Artists each receive financial support, rehearsal space and bespoke professional development, networking and community-building opportunities. Artists also hold invited rehearsals for industry professionals, fellow artists, and kid and family audiences with facilitated feedback sessions.

By connecting artists with New Victory families and Education Partners to garner invaluable feedback from kids, New Victory LabWorks invites artists to hone their craft, expand their skills, make contacts in the field, take artistic risks and make bold choices with their work.

Responding to the Field

New Victory LabWorks began in response to a Theater for Young Audiences (TYA) community need and has remained an iterative program. It has evolved in goals and focus over the years based on feedback and research from partner organizations, program participants and other professionals from the field of TYA.

2010: NYC-based TYA artists gather for the New Victory Scottish Festival and identify a need for professional development and networking.

2012: LabWorks officially launches with up to 10 works being selected each season for development support at New 42 Studios.

2017: New Victory LabWorks Artists begin traveling to national TYA conferences with New Victory Artistic Programming staff, connecting with presenters and practitioners from around the world.

2020: In response to research from TYA/USA about the significant underrepresentation of artists of color in the field—and to the #BlackLivesMatter movement—LabWorks becomes a program for NYC-based artists of color, including those who identify as LGBTQIA+ and/or disabled.

2021: New Victory LabWorks Launch is established, providing individualized support for a particular project to be further developed, with the aim of presenting the work at the New Victory and/or on other national or international stages in the future.

2025: New 42, the parent organization of New Victory, is currently engaged in a strategic planning process. We are taking the winter and spring of 2025 to assess the current needs of the field and formulate the next iteration of LabWorks.

The 2024-25 cohort’s disciplines span from classical Indian, hip-hop and contemporary dance to playwriting, musical theater, sketch comedy and game design. Their interests range from social justice and artivism to children’s literature.

2024-25 LabWorks Launch Artist, Divya Mangwani, is currently workshopping her musical, The Ice Cream Dream, which will have a staged reading at New 42 Studios in 2025, with hopes of further development and a future production.