By invitation only.
This class offers a select group of returning ESPA writers a more rigorous curriculum than our First Draft and Rewrite classes. Over eight weeks, students write and rewrite their play, receive feedback, and participate in class discussion. Invitations for this class are sent to eligible students.
REGISTRATION AND SCHEDULE
Section A:
Instructor: Winter Miller (Writer, In Darfur at The Public Theater, No One Is Forgotten at Rattlestick)
Tuesdays from 5:00pm – 8:00pm ET
June 18, 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, August 6
*Please hold August 13 as a make-up date if needed
Let's get inside the work, folks. Class functions as part of a collective, a sacred team all working to elevate the work. You can bring in the pages you're nervous about, not the ones that are polished. You will be an active participant in your own development as a writer by paying close attention to the obstacles your fellow writers come up against, because it may be a mirror for your work or you as a writer as well.
You can begin the first class with a piece you're already writing or the idea of your project – Winter will help you clarify your writerly and emotional instincts so you can best serve your play and your characters. The point is to let your ego step aside and let you write your play in a way that's true to your vision, not anyone's vision for you. You will mine personal truths alongside what is compelling you about the world in which we live. You will answer the question what's drawing you to write this play and from there we will go in deep from the start. We'll get at the messy stuff, the chaos, and allow patterns and stories to emerge.
Section B:
Instructor: Stefanie Zadravec (Writer, The Electric Baby at Two River Theatre Company)
Mondays from 7:30pm – 10:30pm ET
June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, August 5, 19
Stefanie's class is run as a professional playwriting workshop. You may work on a brand new idea or pull out an old draft you would like to approach with fresh eyes. Each week, writers bring in 10-12 pages, with feedback and response to each student's work filtered through a series of prompts by Stefanie geared toward empowering writers to guide their own play development process. These are designed to create as much of a professional playwriting workshop environment as possible, and to respect the process of new play development, so each writer can develop the muscles and confidence to solve the problems of their play by asking questions and steering feedback so that it is productive and helpful. Stefanie will encourage you to use the medium of theater to the fullest, while staying true to your voice and vision. She believes that all playwriting is political and that every act our characters take has socio-political implications beyond their particular circumstances. To that end, she will help you look beyond the story you're telling and see the larger context of your work.
Stefanie writes dark, funny character-driven plays that mix straightforward storytelling with poetic rhythms and fantastical story elements, addressing questions of identity, class, power, and loss through the lens of the quotidian: the extraordinary in the ordinary.
About the online platform for this class:
Zoom Meeting is easy to start, join, and use to collaborate online in a personable way via desktop or mobile without complicated set-ups. The Zoom Meeting Host (your ESPA instructor or administrator) sends out a meeting link and at the time of your class, you just click the link to launch the virtual classroom via your web browser. In the Zoom Meeting, each participant can share their webcam so that you're not only hearing your instructor and classmates but seeing them too, making it feel similar to being in one of the studios at ESPA. Other exciting collaborative Zoom features include Breakout Rooms in which students can meet in smaller groups, "Raise Your Hand" feature to better facilitate balanced conversation, Video Sharing, and File Transfer for your assignments. If you can't log in via a computer, there are also options to phone into the meeting so you can still participate in the class even if you find yourself without computer or internet access. And Zoom has an Apple and Android app, making it possible to take part in class from any device.
Winter Miller
Stefanie Zadravec
LOCATION
Online!
PRICING
Returning Students: $480
New Students: n/a
Learn about our Payment Plans.
FOR MORE INFO
Learn more about How It Works. For more information, please call 212.840.9705 or email espa@primarystages.org.