Playwriting Techniques

Catalog description

Students will investigate the mystery of how to release their creative process while also discovering the fundamentals of dramatic structure that will help tell the story of their play. In fall, students will write a short scene every week taken from The Playwright’s Guidebook, which we will use as a basic text. At the end of fall, students will write a short but complete play based on one of these short assignments. In spring, students will adapt a short story of their choice and then write a play based on a historical character, event, or period. The focus in all instances will be on the writer’s deepest connection to the material—where the drama lies. Work will be read aloud in class and discussed in class each week. Students will also read and discuss plays that mirror the challenges presented by their own assignments. Creative Impulse Studio: The Process of Writing for the Stage