Playwriting Classes & Workshops

The following courses are designed for playwriting students of all levels, from beginners to advanced. Each student will be taught and nurtured based on their individual goals as writers.

The classes are available to theaters, schools, and cultural/wellness centers. The length of each class or workshop is based on the needs of the institution and can run anywhere from two days to two weeks.
​
All sessions end with individualized strategies for each student on how to balance the responsibilities of everyday life and writing.

Classes

Basics of Playwriting

Life into Art

Lectures and group discussions on the fundamentals of dramatic writing, including structure, exposition, character development, dialogue, the importance of opening sequences, approaches to giving and receiving feedback and the exploration of identifying the premise of each play and learning how to keep the premise front and center throughout the story as well as eliminating the presence of unnecessary tangents.

The exploration of transforming real life experiences into narrative, either through one person or ensemble plays. We’ll investigate the ethical complexities of using friends, family and acquaintances in our work.

Workshops

Plays in Process

In-class readings of each student’s complete or partially completed play with professional actors, followed by a lengthy discussion.

The Art of Collaboration

Explores how creative partnerships shape storytelling and will help students better understand the art of compromise and the sharing of ideas as well as getting insight on when to hold true to your vision or when it feels better to let it go. Understanding collaboration helps sharpen your sense of your own creative voice and, also, understand the skills it takes to make your voice stronger through collaboration. Students with or without collaborators are welcome.​

Musicals in Process

In-class readings of each student’s complete or partially completed musical with professional actors, followed by a lengthy discussion. Songs may be presented by the author(s), actors, or demos.

Character Development

In depth investigation through class interactions and exercises created to help writers explore some or all of the characters in their plays and how to turn characters into real people.