PlayPenn Announces Winter And Spring 2019 Playwriting And Theatre Classes

By: Dec. 11, 2018
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PlayPenn Announces Winter And Spring 2019 Playwriting And Theatre Classes

PlayPenn, the nationally-recognized new play development organization based in Philadelphia, is excited to announce their Winter and Spring 2019 Education Program courses. Curated by Director of Education Julia Bumke, the semester features a variety of both online and face-to-face courses designed for writers of all skill levels.

The session kicks off on Monday, February 11, 2019 with a free Education Reading of Keenya Jackson's Botanicals, or Giving It to God at the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake. Ms. Jackson was a student with PlayPenn Education, and her play has been selected for the organization's free reading program. Students who enroll in a Winter/Spring 2019 class by January 15 will be eligible to submit an unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a future. professional staged reading PlayPenn will produce one student's play as a reading with professional actors, a professional director, and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the Spring/Summer of 2019.

The Winter and Spring 2019 courses include:

Creating an Electrifying 10-Minute Play with Deborah Zoe Laufer: Most successful ten-minute plays have all the elements of successful full-length plays - conflict, high stakes, suspense, complex characters with strong needs, a big unifying idea. And that all must take place within ten pages. In this class, students will examine the ten-minute play, and, through a series of exercises - some drawing from memory, some flights of fancy - they'll write their own short plays. Writers will leave with two early drafts of 10-minute plays by the end of the weekend. The class will also discuss where to send those plays once they're polished, and what "polishing" entails. Designed for short-form pros and novices alike, Deborah Zoe Laufer will walk students through exercises to create new work and break out of usual patterns. (February 23-24, 2019, 1 - 5pm, location in Center City Philadelphia TBA, $170)

Seven-Week Intensive Full Draft Workshop with L Feldman: Level up with beloved PlayPenn instructor L Feldman in this new seven-week experience for advanced writers. Each week, the class will workshop a complete draft of a full-length play from its students. This class is recommended for students who have taken seven-week intensives with PlayPenn before, either with L Feldman or John Yearley, and who are eager to dive deeper into their playwriting practice. If you have questions about your eligibility, please reach out to Julia at classes@playpenn.org. (February 26-April 9, 2019, Thursdays, 5:30-8:30pm, location in Center City Philadelphia TBA, $500)

Dramaturgy 101 with Julia Bumke: What is a dramaturg-why do you need one, and why should you want to be one? This course introduces various aspects of dramaturgy to the playwright who is hungry to collaborate, both with a dramaturg and with other playwrights. It will approach dramaturgy from both sides of the creative process, with tips for fruitful collaboration, case studies of dramaturgical challenges in new play development, samples of research-based dramaturgy projects, and more. Students will walk away with a toolkit of dramaturgical skills that will make them better prepared for professional environments as playwrights, dramaturgs, and generative artists. (March 5, 8, 12, and 15, 2019, 6-8pm E.S.T., online, $150)

How to Write Like Yourself-And Have Fun While Doing It with Kate Tarker: This is not a class for learning how to write the perfect play. This is a workout for setting your imagination into overdrive. You have to test the edges of your creativity to know who really are. Through a succession of muscle-building prompts, students will work toward surprising ourselves. Students will come away from this class with a collection of shorter pieces that could be the beginnings of something more. This course is best for writers who are not beginners, but can approach work with a beginner's mind: playwrights who want to challenge themselves, and who don't want to keep writing the same play over and over again. (March 25-April 15, 2019, Mondays, 5:30pm-8:30pm, location in Center City Philadelphia TBA, $250).

Making Your Own Opportunities: Self-Producing for Playwrights with Maura Krause and Emily Acker: Empower yourself to produce your own work! If you're a theatre artist with a project you're itching to put on its feet, come join Maura Krause and Emily Acker to learn the fundamentals of self-production. Between them, they've garnered their experience from Orbiter 3, Azuka Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Applied Mechanics, and of course, mounting their own shows in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Sessions will cover everything from initial budgeting, to fundraising, to contracts, to venue liaising, to box office and marketing. By the end of the class, each student will leave with documents and an actionable producing plan. Whether students never produced before, or are looking to produce on a larger scale than they have in the past, this class will help students feel ready to create the theatre they want to see -- without waiting for anyone else. (May 7, 9, 14, 16, 2019, 6-8 pm; May 11 and May 18, 2019, 10 am - 1 pm, location in Center City Philadelphia TBA, $275)

Registration and more information can be found at playpenn.org.



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