Re-launched in 2024, our LAUNCH initiative offers internal project sponsorship to Resident Artist Company (RAC) members, helping fund their artistic curiosities, explorations, and ambitions. LAUNCH creates a dedicated space for our artists to experiment and present original work that falls outside our Mainstage season or Scriptease series. Through an internal application process, 1–2 projects are selected each year for financial support and development.
2024:
The Motown Songbook - Resident Artist Proposal: Madison Ray
2025:
- The Grown Ups by Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques- Resident Artist Proposal: Berkeley Coyne
- The DSM 24 Short Play Fest - Resident Artist Proposal: Brittny Rebhuhn
2026:
- Macbitches by Sophie McIntosh - Resident Artist Proposal: Berkeley Coyne
- The Finesse Holiday Show! - Resident Artist Proposal: Madison Ray
Dedicated to developing new plays both locally and nationally, our NewWorks Lab offers a year-long developmental cycle that guides fresh theatrical projects from initial staged readings to fully realized workshop productions. Each cycle begins with a public staged reading followed by an audience talkback and survey, allowing viewers to directly participate in the creative process and provide feedback that shapes the play's future. That audience input fuels the project's growth, leading to a three-day developmental workshop performance later in the season.
Want to know more? email newworkslab@iowastage.org
Bringing together Des Moines’ vibrant creative community, our 24-Hour Short Play Fest challenges local playwrights, directors, and actors to write, rehearse, and perform eight original ten-minute plays in just one single day. What began as a LAUNCH initiative project in 2025 has quickly grown into an annual hallmark event dedicated to amplifying 100% local art. Fast-paced, unexpected, and joyfully chaotic, it offers artists and audiences alike a thrilling night of bold risk-taking and unforgettable theater.