The Living Play

Course Description

Summary

This course is designed for new (or new-ish) playwrights, although more experienced playwrights who want to dig into the fundamentals are also welcome. We will focus on eight essential elements of playwriting craft: character, language, subtext, power, place, theatricality, surprise, and an elusive element called the gap. We will experiment with a variety of ways to start a play, and we will gain a greater understanding of our own individual creative methods and routines. Course assignments will include short writing assignments, an analytical essay, and a final play of approximately thirty minutes in length. Readings will likely include Betting on the Dust Commander by Suzan-Lori Parks, Cloud Tectonics by José Rivera, Betrayal by Harold Pinter, Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Stephen Adly Guirgis, Doubt by John Patrick Shanley, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window by Lorraine Hansberry, Mud by María Irene Fornés, Public Obscenities by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, and others. If you're curious about playwriting but not sure how to start -- or if you're interested in experimenting with new approaches to your playwriting practice -- this class is for you. Our goal will be to read and write plays that are living: slippery, surprising, funny, and multi-dimensional.