Watering Hole Collective is Investing in Bold New Work.

Summer development lab 2025.

development lab?

A development lab is an early-stage space for theatrical exploration—before a full script exists, before there’s a reading or workshop. It gives artists time, support, and collaborative environments to dive into an idea, test out new material, and experiment without the pressure of a finished product.

This summer’s lab focuses on a new text-based piece built from real testimony taken from the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings. When we heard that a group of artists was exploring this material, we reached out—and saw the potential for something powerful.

from the archive to the stage.

  • During the mid-20th century, a series of congressional committees began one of the most paranoid chapters in American history. Known as the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), they investigated communist propaganda in arts industries in the United States. Many artists testified, either cooperating with the committee or rejecting its very existence, sometimes resulting in being blacklisted in their industry. 


    Drawing directly from testimony transcripts, this devised theater piece revisits the moments when actors, writers, and creators were asked one brutal question: Are you now, or have you ever been... — and what it costs to speak up, stay silent, or resist. This project aims to investigate the stories we allow to be told — and the ones we shut down. It asks: Who gets to shape the narrative? What happens when we disagree? And is there a better way forward?

The process.

Our development lab will include five rehearsal sessions throughout the summer, culminating in a retreat weekend designed to give artists focused time to create outside the rhythm of daily life. We believe that this dedicated time can be an invaluable part of the artistic process.

There is currently no public presentation scheduled, but we’re exploring the possibility of a fall showing to share excerpts or discoveries from the lab.

we Support artists at the very beginning of their process—when ideas are fragile, unformed, and full of possibility.

By offering resources early on, we ensure that the work we eventually bring to the stage is deeply aligned with our mission.

Starting from the ground up allows our projects to be rooted in the voices of our community — so that when these works reach an audience, the conversations they foster are meaningful, urgent, and grounded in lived experience.

Retreat Weekend

an artistic escape.

  • The lab will culminate in an artist retreat at a secluded ranch near Mineral Wells, TX, along the Brazos River. After several weeks of collaborative work in Dallas, this time away offers a chance to step outside the rhythm of daily life and dive more deeply into the ideas, relationships, and material already in motion. With uninterrupted time and space, the ensemble can continue developing the work with greater focus, care, and intention—building on the foundation they've created together.

The Visionaries.

This group of collaborators has been dreaming up this project together, and we’re thrilled to support them as they take the next step in shaping this work.

  • Caroline Hamilton (she/her) is a Dallas-based producer, arts manager, and director. Originally from South Carolina, she has spent the last seven years working in the theater and podcast industries. As a theater professional, she currently serves as the Director of Marketing, Sales and Communications at Dallas Theater Center. Previous theater work includes: Associate Producer at Echo Theatre, Casting Associate at Dallas Theater Center, and Volunteer Coordinator for Public Works Dallas 2018. She has produced plays such as Cadillac Crew and Feeding the Cat, Incorrectly, Several Times Over in addition to multiple reading series and events. She’s directed numerous productions in Dallas, notable credits include Is Edward Snowden Single? and Goat Song (Second Thought Theatre), and Founders Keepers (Echo Theatre). Her work in the audio world includes Executive Producing Under Cover of Knight, an Apple Original Podcast, and producing podcasts such as HBO’s Between the World and Me, Bedtime Stories with Netflix Jr., and others. As a Production Manager, she has worked at Spoke Media and Breakout Learning. Caroline holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, and is an MFA candidate at CUNY Brooklyn College.

  • Katie Ibrahim (she/her) is a director, teaching artist, and transcript-lover based in Dallas and from Orlando, Florida. She has been fascinated by the HUAC testimonies for years and is thrilled to get to work with other artists to investigate this material. As a director, Katie most recently directed The Grown-Ups at Kitchen Dog Theater. Other directing credits include: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Dallas), Feeding the Cat, Incorrectly, Several Times Over (Echo Theatre), The Seagull (Theatre Three, Associate Director), King Lear and Hamlet (Shakespeare Dallas, Associate Director). She has also stage managed a number of productions, including Next to Normal (Theatre Three), Is Edward Snowden Single?, One Flea Spare, and Pass Over (Second Thought Theatre) and Man Cave (Kitchen Dog Theater). She is a lead teaching artist at The Playground Acting Program and holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from SMU's Meadows School of the Arts.

  • Bella O’Brien (she/they) is a poet, playwright, performer, and mystic based in Denver, CO. Her play water from the river is also in the sea was a Semi-Finalist for the National Playwriting Conference at The O’Neill Theater Center (2019), a Finalist for New Light Theatre Project’s New Light New Voices Award (2020), and a Semi-Finalist for the Ojai Playwrights Conference (2025). It received a staged reading at Flamboyan Theatre earlier this year and is scheduled for production there in early 2026. LITTLELAMB was a Semi-Finalist for Normal Ave’s NAPSeries (2023) and received a staged reading at Teatro Dallas’s Nuevo Mundo festival (2023). Bella’s work often weaves themes of spirituality, ancestral memory, and identity, blending poetic language with ritual and lived experience. Her practice as a mystic informs a deeply intuitive approach to storytelling. Bella offers tarot readings, ritual experiences, energy healing, and channeled art through her business, mija of moon. She also crafts bespoke live poetry at events around Denver and is continuously exploring new modalities and creative forms. Bella holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.