Berkeley Rep Announces 2026 Ground Floor Residency Participants

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Over 100 local and national artists representing 20 projects will unite at Berkeley Rep’s West Berkeley campus from June 15–July 12, 2026.

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Berkeley Repertory Theatre has revealed the Summer Residency Lab participants of The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. This year, over 100 local and national artists representing 20 projects will unite at Berkeley Rep’s West Berkeley campus from June 15–July 12, 2026, for an intensive four-week period to exchange ideas, incubate new theatrical work, receive bespoke developmental support, and build artistic community.

Since launching in 2012, The Ground Floor has become one of the country's leading new work development programs, supporting more than 1,000 artists and helping incubate over 200 projects. Works developed through the program have gone on to receive fully staged productions at Berkeley Rep, as well as on stages across the country and around the world.

The Residency Lab brings artists to Berkeley to work on projects in one- to two-week residencies over the course of four weeks. Artists have been selected through an open application process and evaluated by a panel of internal and external readers (made up of arts leaders around the country). A record-breaking 1,300 projects applied to participate in the 2026 Residency Lab. Depending on the expressed wishes of the artists, a project may culminate in a public sharing, though there is no requirement that the work be presented. Sign-up for the Berkeley Rep newsletter here to be alerted about The Ground Floor.. The following artists and projects have been selected to participate in The Ground Floor’s 2026 Summer Residency Lab.

by Borna Barzin, directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh

Belly Dancing Lessons follows a group of high school students who form an illicit belly dancing studio in the basement of a bakery in 1980s Iran.

by Becca Blackwell , in collaboration with Madeleine George

Blackwell’s comedy show Dandelion asks what we need to let get blown off in a world obsessed with freedom but terrified of how to get there.

by Adam Mansbach, directed by Kevin Coval and in collaboration with Josh Begley, DJ Frane, Vivien Mansbach, Nino Moschella, and Martín Perna

In the shadow of his brother's suicide, Adam is forced to re-imagine the person he thought he knew — confronting his unsettled family history, his distant relationship with tradition and faith, and his desperate need to understand an event that always slides just out of his grasp. Adapted from Mansbach's memoir-in-verse, I Had a Brother Once.

book by Harrison David Rivers , music by Jacob Yandura , and lyrics by Rebekah Greer Melocik

(a two week residency through June 28)

Theo and Henry move to New York City for a fresh start, only to find their dream home might just be a nightmare.

by Cat Brooks

Three Black women defy the violent constraints of concrete walls and metal bars by fostering sisterhood, humanity, and resilience despite the trappings of solitary confinement. As part of the docu-theatre process, Cat Brooks is collecting the lived experiences of incarcerated women through a partnership with award-winning incarcerated journalist Kwaneta Harris who is serving time in a Texas state prison and California-based Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition.

book by James Hindman , music and lyrics by Carmel Dean , in collaboration with Robbie Simpson

When eight desperate Americans board a discount bus to Mexico for medications they can’t afford at home, their simple pharmacy-run spirals into a chaotic, hilarious, and unexpectedly healing journey — discovering unexpected community, absurd adventure, and hard truths about survival in modern America.

by Britton Smith

MAMA is a theatrical concert ritual that follows a southern queer Black artist’s spiritual awakening through water—transforming grief, memory, science, and music into a communal revival calling humanity back into the right relationship with the Earth and each other.

by Vickie Ramirez , Ty Defoe , and Jeanette Harrison

This new performance blends text, movement, and song to explore the timeless wisdom of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s Great Law of Peace, its relevance to modern democracy, and its historical impact both within the Confederacy and on the United States.

by Gabriel Holman

Star Mother explores queer family through a lens of eldritch horror and multiverse theory. The production aims to eventually incorporate immersive stagecraft to thrill audiences.

by Jonathan Moscone , in collaboration with Joy Meads

A solo performance that uses one person's experience of devastating loss to examine how theatre can create space for grief and collective mourning.

by Fouad Dakwar, in collaboration with Sivan Battat

Part standup comedy, part punk-rock, part family-history, part spectral-ritual, Amo Juliano is a musical account of the life & assassination of Jewish Palestinian activist theatre-maker, Juliano Mer-Khamis.

by Ryan J. Haddad and Abigail and Shaun Bengson , directed by Sam Gold , in collaboration with Alison Kopit and Sarah Lunnie

(a two week residency through July 12)

Crip Camp is a wild, joyous, uninhibited live musical adaptation of the Academy Award-nominated documentary. With original music, text, jokes, robust interviews, and dirty stories, Crip Camp is the story of a group of young activists, many of whom met at Camp Jened and went on to fight for disability rights. Original seed commission and ongoing development by The Public Theater ( Oskar Eustis , Artistic Director and Patrick Willingham , Executive Director).

by Ren Dara Santiago , directed by Ludmila de Brito

A young man travels from Harlem to Manila to find his roots, only to be drawn into a hidden rebellion led by his mother and his pen-pal, inciting a supernatural struggle where the line between hero and monster — and the true cost of freedom — are tested. Dramaturgical revision workshop incorporating movement and the connection between folklore, systemic sexual exploitation, and colonization.

by Felonious (Carlos Aguirre, Keith Pinto , Tommy Soulati Shepherd, and Dan Wolf), directed by Elizabeth Carter

Four estranged emcees reunite for a $200,000 gig at a former fan’s 40th birthday party. One part live hip-hop concert and one part love letter to their artform — the show weaves together the live spectacle of their music set with a deeper exploration of their personal histories, their brotherhood, and the sacrifices they’ve made for each other. It's not just about getting "The Bag" — it's about what you find when you reach for it. The Bag's 2026 Ground Floor Summer Lab residency is supported by Circuit Network with funding from the Gerbode Foundation and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

by Mathilde Dratwa , directed by Jeremy Cohen

When a woman realizes she may no longer control the narrative of her own life, she begins searching for a way back to herself. A darkly funny play about identity, intimacy, performance, and the unstable line between private life and public narrative.

by Gloria Calderón Kellett

Three estranged siblings reunite to keep vigil for their dying mother, confronting grief, buried resentments, and the enduring love that binds their family together.

music by Jaime Lozano , book and lyrics by Jaime Lozano and Florencia Cuenca , with additional book and lyrics by Adrian Alexander Alea; conceived by Jaime Lozano and Florencia Cuenca ; developed and directed by Adrian Alexander Alea; in collaboration with Yahir Montes, Hugo Moreno , George Sáenz

A Spanglish new musical where multi-instrumentalists blend memory, Mexican musical traditions, and modern beats into a story of love, home, and ambition. Inspired by a true story, Él y Ella follows two Mexican artists who fall in love, move to New York on a whim, and discover the exhilaration and cost of building a home, a family, and a shared dream through art.

by Rachel Wax , directed by Anne Kauffman , in collaboration with Eli Bosnick and Eric Shethar

Jewish American Magician is an original comedic-theatrical magic show that draws from illusion, variety shows, standup comedy, and solo performance to create a new experience for magic and theatre audiences alike.

with book by Mat Smart, music and lyrics by Liza Anne, directed by Jaime Castañeda, in collaboration with Kyle Ryan

A dark comedy with music about blood ties, revenge, and how hard it is to get unstuck — especially when your life is dedicated to ending others. Based on the play, Kill Local by Mat Smart.

by Alice Wu, in collaboration with Leigh Silverman

A musical update of an old-fashioned romantic comedy featuring lesbian daughters, pregnant Chinese mothers, and a whole lot of dancing. Based on the 2005 film Saving Face, now in the Criterion Collection. As they say, “It's never too late to fall in love for the first time.”

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/Berkeley-Repertory-Theatre-Reveals-2026-Participants-for-The-Ground-Floor-20260615)._