After starting by studying plays from classic and contemporary playwrights, this course culminates in an open performance of students’ original plays. Students learn how to write in the voice and style of those plays. Students then develop their own voice and style and create an original 15-minute play that will be staged with other students in the class (or from beyond the class). Students will learn how technical aspects of the theater can inform storytelling, such as devising their own lighting to reflect the mood of the piece/characters’ journeys, costume creation/choosing, period prop acquisition, and research, etc. Class will also include interactive theater exercises amongst students so playwrights can become empathetic towards the writers they are writing for. Activities may include analyzing dialogue and character relationships through video clips from movies, TV shows, and creating a short play from current events using interviews, news stories, and videos as source material.

Offered Spring 2024