Playwriting Intensive:
June 22-27, 2008
Playwriting Intensive is a five-day, five-night workshop designed to provide traditional and innovative guidance in the art and craft of writing plays. Student writers have the opportunity to work with our faculty playwrights, working playwrights all, in daily classes and in one-on-one meetings. Each member of the playwriting faculty offers a distinct voice and perspective, and each class is designed to lend a particular approach to the creation of a play. All students have the chance to have work read aloud by SLC graduate student actors, under the guidance of faculty directors. Students also have the opportunity to work with actors on structured improvisations of their written material. Guests join the faculty for seminars on a broad range of interests. All students and faculty meet together for meals, group discussions, and nightly readings of student written material.
Sample Schedule
Each morning following breakfast:
A small-group meeting in preparation for a three-hour classroom session with a faculty playwright. Student groups move from one teacher to another over the course of the week, so each student meets with each faculty playwright in an individually designed class.
Each afternoon after lunch:
- Students may choose to meet privately with a playwright instructor or work alone on new material.
- In preparation for nightly readings, the works of five to six student playwrights are rehearsed by actors and faculty directors.
- Late afternoons are given over to student playwrights' work with actors on improvised scenes, or on particular playwriting problems that would benefit from actor and director participation.
Each evening after dinner:
- The plays rehearsed each afternoon are presented as readings ?after dinner. Each student has the opportunity over the week to have a short play, or a scene from a longer play, rehearsed and read aloud. Questions and answers, and a discussion moderated by a faculty playwright, follow each reading.
- Snacks are served following the readings, and playwrights and faculty can gather in the campus center or on the lawn for continued late-night discussion.
The conference structure allows ample time in the week for writing, reflection, and informal discussion. The Sarah Lawrence College Theatre Program's stages and rehearsal studios are fully available to the Playwriting Intensive.
