IN-PERSON & ONLINE:

the first draft

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 10-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft. Open to new and returning students, this class will be run just like a real-life writing room, interacting with your instructor and classmates live either in person or via Zoom. 

This class might be for you if you:

  • Are a playwright of any level looking to start the first draft of your new play.

  • Are starting out in the world of playwriting or want to write your first play.

  • Want concrete deadlines and constructive feedback to encourage you to get your ideas on the page.


In this class you will:

  • Bring in new pages to hear them read aloud in class.

  • Strengthen your writing skills with exercises and assignments from your instructor. Read about each section below to see which instructor might be the best fit for you. (Still not sure? Email us!)

  • Engage in discussion with fellow writers, making connections with your artistic peers.


By the end of this class you will:

  • Have a solid start on—or even complete!—a first draft of a full-length play.

  • Be ready for Rewriting Your Draft!

FACULTY
Gina Femia
Matthew Paul Olmos
Caridad Svich
Michael Walkup
Calamity West

PRICING
10-Week Class
Returning Students: $560
New Students: $580

8-Week Class
Returning Students: $480
New Students: $520

In-Person Class Studio Fee: $40
Due to the increasing cost of studio space, our in-person classes will now include a $40 studio space fee to help us offset these costs.

Learn about our Payment Plans.

FOR MORE INFO
Learn more about How It Works.
For more information, please call 212.840.9705 x215 or email espa@primarystages.org.

REGISTRATION AND SCHEDULE: In-Person Classes

SECTION A

Instructor: Gina Femia (Writer, Kilroy’s List and Leah Ryan Prize honoree)
Tuesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET
September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14, 21, 28, November 11 (virtual), 25, December 2
*Please note that class on November 11 will be held virtually on Zoom.

  • This class will be held at ARTNY Studios, located at 520 8th Avenue.

  • Gina believes that the classroom is a place to get to know yourself, your process, and your creative language as a writer. Class sessions will include a combination of writing exercises and sharing sessions, where you read each other’s pages out loud and respond to that work. Writers will bring in sections of their play (12-18 pages) every third week as a way to delve into larger sections of storytelling. Gina will encourage you to think outside of chronological order when writing, embracing the energy of what is most exciting to you instead of creating a set course for yourself. As a way to set up strong habits as a writer outside the classroom, Gina will give writing assignments every week to help develop a creative routine between sessions. This class is an opportunity for writers to continue expanding both your creative practice and practical practice in the exploration of your work.

SECTION B

Instructor: Michael Walkup (Artistic Director, Page 73)
Wednesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET
September 24, October 1, 8, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19, December 3, 10

  • This class will be held at ARTNY Studios South Oxford Space, located at 138 South Oxford St. in BROOKLYN.

  • This class is run in the spirit of a dramaturg running a workshop for playwrights. The class relies on students generating pages outside of class and attending each class. You will read each other's pages out loud and follow that with structured feedback led by Michael. Peer-to-peer conversation is central, along with hearing from Michael each week about your writing. Playwrights will be encouraged to write as many pages each week as they feel inspired to, and you'll commit to actively reading and discussing around 12 minutes of writing per student per week (typically 10-15 pages). The feedback Michael leads aims to illuminate what the pages have already accomplished, and not predict what you should do next. Weekly participation will keep you on the path toward a complete first draft. Michael will help you articulate the style and structure that your particular play wants to be told in by meeting you on your own turf and reflecting back to you what he sees in your writing—where it may want to push ahead, where it may be losing steam or clarity, and where certain playwriting tools (such as character, reversals, language, song, and physical action) may push a scene to the next level.

REGISTRATION AND SCHEDULE: ONLINE Classes

SECTION C

Instructor: Caridad Svich (Writer, OBIE Winner for Lifetime Achievement, 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art)
Thursdays from 5:00pm – 8:00pm ET
September 18, 25, October 2, 9, 16, November 6, 13, 20, December 4, 11

  • This class is run as a writers’ workshop. Caridad believes in an equitable and respectful writing room, sensitive to each person’s respective process, but also one where a vigorous, rigorous, and intuitive approach is manifest in establishing a group atmosphere. The sessions will be structured around response to work turned in (on average 5 to 8 pages a week) with pieces read out loud in the virtual room live in class with peer and instructor response time after each sharing of work using the Liz Lerman approach. At the beginning of the semester, you will determine if everyone will share work at every session or every other session. There will be occasional in-class writing exercises, and homework will be limited to recommended reading, prompts, and/or viewings assigned. In other words, the focus will be on your generative process, and as such, homework will be minimal outside of that.

    Caridad’s writing focuses on human and environmental rights from a Latinx feminist perspective for the most part, though her work also explores deeply the reconfiguration of classic and modern texts, gender fluidity, and porous borders aesthetically and formally. She has also adapted novels to the stage and sustains a parallel career as a theatrical translator, editor, and artivist. Caridad’s work is often labeled by others as “poetic realism” or “atomized realism.”

SECTION D

Instructor: Matthew Paul Olmos (Writer, a home what howls at Steppenwolf, so go the ghost of mexico, part one at La Mama)
Tuesdays from 6:30pm – 9:30pm ET
September 23, 30, October 7, 21, 28, November 4, 11, 18, 25, December 2

  • Matthew believes in putting the playwright in charge of their own process, with each writer asking questions regarding what they were working on specifically or are needing support with, as opposed to giving prescriptive notes. In the beginning, students will bring in 8-10 pages to share each week, and depending on the needs and wants of the group, this may evolve into students alternating weeks to bring in larger sections of work. As a class, we’ll read the work, give space for the playwright to ask questions, then share our experience with the pages and (if useful to the playwright) offer neutral questions/opinions. Though the class is primarily focused on bringing in pages, you might be encouraged to write for sake of discovery – such as writing exploratory scenes that would never be in the final play, trying exercises on your scene to see what it unearths.

    Matthew most often writes in a theatricality where the rules of naturalism don’t necessarily function in the way we are used to. He does a lot of research for his work, so some of his historically-driven plays use realism, but the world of the play is still often very theatricalized.

SECTION E

Instructor: Calamity West (Writer, Roundabout/Underground, The Goodman, Williamstown)
Wednesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET
October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19

  • This course is designed for writers looking for a supportive, enthusiastic, and collaborative environment to put their playwriting fundamentals to the test. Being run as a true writer's workshop, this course asks that playwrights enter the space with an idea for their new play. Together with Calamity, you'll develop living documents for each of your works that will help you navigate your way through your individual creative processes along with developing road maps for your dramatic works. Playwrights will be expected to complete weekly writing exercises for character development in addition to generating new pages for your first draft. By the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of your individual process, the confidence to enter a workshop space within the industry itself, and most importantly - a complete first draft.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CLASSES

  • Our in-person classes are held at ARTNY Studios, located both in Midtown and in Brooklyn:

    Submitting and Sharing Pages
    Our in-person classes are fully digital for sharing and reading pages. All pages will be shared via a class Google Drive folder, and we will use devices in class to read each other’s pages. Please come to class with a device (laptop, tablet, etc) and a charger/power cord for your device. If you are unable to bring your own device, please contact ESPA Administration.

    Covid Policy
    The safety of our students, faculty and staff is our top priority. In order to maintain a safe environment, please see our Covid Policy for all in-person classes.

  • 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, Screen Sharing, and Chat. 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.