Playwriting Techniques

The focus of this class is to discover both the nature of your creative process and the fundamentals of dramatic structure that gives form to that process. In the first term, students will write a series of both spontaneous writing exercises and structural exercises. Both types of exercise are taken from The Playwrights Guidebook, which we will use as a basic text. At the end of the first term, students will write a short, but complete, play based on one of their spontaneous writing exercises. In the second term, students go on to adapt a short story of their choice and to write a play based on a historical character, event, or period. The focus in all instances is on the writer’s deepest connection to the material—where the drama lies. The work is 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 exercises. This class meets once a week.