"Pain Management" derives its name (and inspiration) from the sign on the side of the building we are currently officing in: the former Boulder Community Hospital Mapleton Center, 311 Mapleton Ave.

A deserted hospital- we now know- has a very peculiar character. Part ghost town, part playground, stories of hope and pain seem to be lurking in our peripheral vision in every empty hallway, each abandoned examination room.

As theater makers, we're, of course, drawn to voice those stories.

We wish to build a site-specific show (eg, using the hospital itself as a venue) devised by both a team of artists AND audience volunteers.

This unusual artist/audience collaboration is something we've experimented with once before:

The accompanying photos are from "Tone." (punctuation intended), our artist/audience collaboration at the 2016 Local Lab new play festival at eTown Hall. Using 1/3 actors and 2/3 volunteer audience members, we spent 8 hours over the course of the 3-day festival developing very short plays on the subject of making ourselves understood (or misunderstood) over digital mediums. The group presented two scenes from their devised play in front of a sold-out house on the festival's final day. The experience was so popular and fruitful, that we decided to further develop this artist/audience collaboration at the 2017 Local Lab with "Pain Management".

Casting from our "Theatricians Collective" --a diverse team of actors, directors, dancers, singers, photographers and other sundry artists who've been studying theater together once a month since February of 2015-- we will invite the Lab audience to join 12 artists in developing short theater pieces on the theme of "pain management".

The plays will then be performed at the hospital (the owner has given approval) on Sunday, March 19.