Sundance artistic director Philip Himberg has selected five playwrights and one songwriting team to take part in the annual 18-day retreat that will be held in Utah Feb. 7-25, 2011. The Lab provides writers the opportunity to develop new work away from the pressures of audiences and critics.

Jacobs-Jenkins' minstrelsy play Neighbors garnered critical buzz when it premiered at the Public Theater last season; Rebeck is the playwright of Mauritius, The Understudy and Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer Prize finalist); Paul and Pasek's new musical A Christmas Story will debut at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle this season, and their musical James and the Giant Peach is now at Goodspeed Musicals' Norma Terris Theatre.

Also scheduled to attend the Ucross lab are County of Kings playwright and performer Lemon Anderson; Kitchen Table and Bone to Pick playwright Eugenie Chan; and playwright Tanya Saracho, whose works include El Nogalar, which will premiere at the Goodman Theatre in 2011.

"The range of talent in this year's slate of artists reflects the dynamic diversity of theatre in America today, as well as the Sundance Institute's intention to support voices that will inform and influence our culture," Himberg said in a statement. "The unique landscape that is Ucross has nurtured Sundance Institute Theatre Program artists for 12 years, and this partnership continues to be one of our most meaningful and productive."

Works developed at Sundance include The Light in the Piazza, I Am My Own Wife, Circle Mirror Transformation and The Good Negro.

Visit Sundance.