NOVA LAB 2026: OPEN CALL FOR SCRIPTS

NOVA Lab 2026: Open Call for Scripts 

Theme: Our Future

Submission Deadline: December 23rd, 2025 @11:59PM

Application Form: https://forms.gle/s7WkDKpmxXDwcHwd9

We are excited to announce our new year-round incubator program NOVA Lab as Cellunova's 2026 Season! 

Two selected works will receive creative support throughout the year. The playwrights will participate in an internal workshop and a public script reading workshop in the first half of the year to gather early general feedback. In the Fall, we will present a curated full production series showcasing works developed through the program. 

Cellunova Productions invites submissions for a new full-length play (70–80 minutes) under the theme OUR FUTURE. We are seeking works that examine the transformations shaping our community, society, and world today—and chart where we are headed next. We welcome stories that don’t dwell in the past or settle for the present, but look forward with urgency, clarity, and imagination. We strongly encourage applications from BIPOC artists, first-generation immigrants, and others from historically underrepresented communities in the theatre.

We are looking for:

- A script with a runtime of 70–80 minutes under the theme OUR FUTURE.

- A preferred cast size of 2 and maximum cast size of 3. In alignment with our mission to uplift diverse voices, we encourage works that provide strong representation for BIPOC performers. We aim for at least half of the cast to be BIPOC roles or roles castable by BIPOC actors.

- A play centered on futures in the making. This could include the evolution of a community, a development in an industry or science, or transformations unfolding on a galactic scale. There are no limits to where your story takes place—only that it reaches forward in time.

While we welcome big ideas and imaginative settings, the heart of the submission must be a compelling, character-driven story—one that resonates beyond its concept and speaks to what it means to live through change.

Submission Guidelines:

- Playwrights must be 18+ to submit

- English language (multilingual also welcome)

- PDF format, with title and author(s) on the cover page

- Include a brief artist bio (max 300 words)

Lab Participant Award: $500

About Cellunova
We are a multidisciplinary theater company led by first-generation Asian immigrant artists. Our work fuses bold storytelling with new technologies, and builds bridges between indie theater and audiences from industries and communities that don’t typically see themselves on stage. Our productions speak to urgent civic, cultural, and political issues—amplifying emerging voices and fostering dialogue across lines of class, background, and industry.

We are particularly excited by scripts that:

- Center hybrid identities, transnational narratives, and intergenerational experiences

- Reflect underrepresented communities in imaginative or speculative contexts

- Engage thoughtfully with real-world systems or fields—from science and architecture to diplomacy and environmental design

- Challenge traditional stage forms or storytelling structures in innovative ways

From the deep sea to the stars, from disappearing borders to reimagined economies—where do you see us going?

Show us the future, in your voice.