Instructor: Andrew Black

Location: Marian University, Marian Hall/Room #206 (campus map)  

Playwriting allows writers to tell stories using a unique medium–live performance.  But how to leverage the opportunity so that writers harness the full power of the audience’s imagination?  This class reviews the fundamentals of narrative structure, with a focus on the creation of a ten-minute play.  The principles will be applied to full-length works as well.  Just click your magic ruby heels together and say: “there’s no place like a theater”.

The workshop unfolds in five successive sessions over five weeks.  The first session is an overview of the key elements of narrative structure.  In the second session, students present an outline for a ten-minute play utilizing the key elements.  In the third/fourth sessions, plays are read.  Professional actors come to bring the plays to life.  In fourth/fifth session, rewrites are heard.  At the end of the seminar, student playwrights will have a full ten-minute play.

Here is what other students have said about this workshop:

“Andy’s class takes you from being a beginner with ideas to seeing your play come to life.”

“Kudos to Andy. I’m a professional writing/communications instructor, and this was one of the best courses I’ve taken. For all his knowledge, his focus was on getting plays constructed, written and produced. It was exhilarating.”