NACL Theatre (North American Cultural Laboratory)
Theatre Center

NACL, an acronym for North American Cultural Laboratory, is a theatre company that creates all
original theatre performances, tours, and runs its own theatre center and artists’ residence in
Highland Lake, NY.  Founded in 1997 by artistic director Brad Krumholz and actor Tannis
Kowalchuk, NACL's mission is to create original New Theatre that advances the craft and life of
the theatre artist while contributing to the development of contemporary experimental theatre in
North America.

NACL makes its own theatre performances, which are very physical, and often incorporate
complex group singing, unusual audience seating, and a surprising use of sets and objects by
the highly skilled actors who transform space to capture the imagination of the spectator.
The company has also become known in Sullivan County for its stilt walking performances and
appearances. 

NACL has a history of twelve original plays.  Currently in repertory are The Passion according to
G.H., The Time Cycle, 10 Brecht Poems, The Mystery of Lakewood House, The Confessions of
Punch and Judy, and The Uncanny Appearance of Sherlock Holmes.  The company has toured
across the United States and Canada, and has played at theatres in Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia, and
Romania.  In the New York area, NACL has performed in downtown Off-Off Broadway venues such as La MaMa, The Ohio Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Brecht Forum, PS 122, The Brooklyn
Museum of Art, and more.

NACL director Brad Krumholz, actress Tannis Kowalchuk, and the actors of NACL have
developed a rigorous actor training called The Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Work.  The
training is the work on the physical, the voice, and the creative impulse and ability inside each
actor.  Based on the work of master teachers in the traditions of Odin Teatret, Primus Theatre,
and Jerzy Grotowski, NACL has evolved a training that it continues to practice and teach to
actors and students in North America and abroad.

NACL operates a theatre space in Highland Lake, in Sullivan County New York, located two
hours north of New York City.  It is a large church-turned-performance space, and an artists’
residence.  The company produces The NACL Catskill Festival of New Theatre, an international
festival and conference of experimental and ensemble theatre; since 2000 there has been a
festival each summer.  Artists from across the world perform for local audiences and participate
in conferences and training workshops with the other festival artists and scholars.  NACL also
hosts guest retreats for visiting theatre companies who need time and space to work; teaches
The Catskill Performer Training Retreat--an annual actor training workshop intensive; and
continues to practice its training and develop its plays there.

For more information, including directions and up-to-date events listings, please visit:
http://www.nacl.org

Contact
P.O. Box 33
110 Highland Lake Rd.
Highland Lake, NY 12743
Ph. 845-557-0694
Email: nacl@nacl.org
Website: www.nacl.org