Introduction to Playwriting

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via The Chattery

via The Chattery

Come learn the basics of writing plays with us! Let's dive into the world of playwriting together.

Are you a seasoned writer curious to stretch your creative muscle in a new form? Do you love theatre and want to know some of the nuts and bolts? Maybe you're a steadfast journaler, or just a curious person. Or maybe you just constantly have 18 conversations in your head going at the same time and need to figure out how to write it all down.

In this Introduction to Playwriting course, we'll cover the foundations of writing plays by first going through some generative writing exercises. Then, you'll use the results of those exercises to start building characters and discovering conflict.

By the time you leave, you'll have a shiny new draft of a scene to dream about, tinker with, perform with your friends, draw red Xs through, throw darts at, and/or lovingly tuck into a drawer for a year. (All of these are reasonable reactions to writing your first scene.)

You'll also leave with an arsenal of tips: how to "unblock," ways to give your characters more nuance and specificity, and what to do when you stop having fun.

This course is really for anyone, writer or not, at any experience level, and you'll be invited (but not required) to participate by sharing your own work or reading others' writing aloud.

About the teacher:

Jordan Elizabeth Henry (she/her) lives on the ancestral homelands of the Tsalaguwetiyi, S'atsoyaha, and Miccosukee peoples. She began her education in playwriting in 2008 and has since written dozens of short plays and 14 full-length plays. Her plays have been developed with organizations like The Workshop Theatre, Digital Development Project, and Inkwell Theatre; many have also been semi-finalists and finalists for highly-competitive awards and development opportunities (the O'Neill, Bay Street Theatre, the Dramatist Guild Foundation, and the Blue Ink Award).

A lover of many genres, her work ranges from horror to romance, from large-scale large-cast nonlinear Brechtian chaos to 2-character plays that take place in real time in one space. She loves to bend these genres together, walking that thin line between horror and comedy, between tragedy and romance -- it is these razor's edges that interest her the most.

Her training is in the Theatre of Hospitality -- a framework that invites deep trust between the artists, and between the artists and audience. She was taught that theatre is about witnessing, about community, and about the other, and that's the perspective from which she works.

You can read her work on the New Play Exchange and find her on Instagram @__j_liz__.