June 23, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18

Mondays from 6:00 – 9:00pm ET

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE $480

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $440

Performance can be made and written in all types of ways, and sometimes you need to bypass your preconceived notions to open up your writing. In this 8-week class, you will interrogate what it means to make material that challenges the audience without being exclusionary or pretentious. This class isn't an argument against story or plot based work, just a reminder that there are a plethora of ways to communicate and express our human condition. Theatre is an experience, not a Cathedral. Let's get a little CRAZY!

This class might be for you if you:

• Feel limited by traditional dramatic structure when starting to write a play. 
• Are interested in emotional trajectory as opposed to plot based or episodic structure in your work.
• Have an open mind and are willing to try things outside of your comfort zone.

In this class you will:

• Explore different ways to subvert and restructure preconceived notions of how plays are made and put together. 
• Discuss how nonlinear work appears in modern plays.
• Do warm up exercises in the first few classes to get to know each other, and then complete short writing exercises throughout the semester to broaden the ways you create work. 
• For the first part of the semester, bring in 10-15 pages to share each week, with structured feedback led by William.
• As the semester moves forward, schedule slots for bringing in larger pieces of text to share in order to dive even deeper into each work.
• Be given a small reading list with an additional list of optional reading from William, as well as an observational environmental scavenger hunt project to complete throughout the semester to supply the class with writing content and icebreakers. 

By the end of the class you will have:

• A set of fresh, non-traditional tools and exercises to open up your writing.
• A working draft of a play in process, generated from the lessons learned in class.
• The courage to break out of your preconceived notions of playwriting and experiment with form.

Learn more about William here.

June 23, 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11

Mondays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET

In-Person at ART/NY Studios at 520 8th Ave. 

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

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.

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 8-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft.

More about class with Gina: 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.

Gina often writes in poetic realism, and their work includes themes of queerness, sexuality, and gender exploration. Writers of all levels and styles are encouraged and welcome.

Learn more about Gina here.

Read more about First Draft here.

This class will be 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.

June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, August 5, 12

Tuesdays from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 8-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft.

More about class with Caridad: 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.”

Learn more about Caridad here.

June 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, August 6, 13

Wednesdays from 7:30pm – 10:30pm ET

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

As soon as you finish your last line of dialogue, the need for rewrites begins. This 8-week class will help you tackle the revision process and develop a stronger version of your play. Open to new and returning students located anywhere in the world, this class will be run just like a real-life writing room, interacting with your instructor and classmates live via Zoom. 

More on taking class with Stefanie: This class is geared toward empowering writers to guide their own play development process. Writers will begin by articulating their goals for their new draft. Then, writers will present sections of their plays (20-30 pages) every other week. Writers receive feedback and responses to the work from the group, filtered through a series of prompts given by Stefanie. These prompts are designed to respect the process of new play development, so each writer develops the tools and confidence to solve the problems of their play, and empowers them to steer conversations that are productive and helpful. Occasionally writers will be asked to complete writing exercises to help support, scene by scene, imagery and themes that emerge in their work.

Learn more about Stefanie here.

Learn more about Rewriting Your Draft here.

June 26, July 10, 17, 24, 31, August 7, 14, 21

Thursdays from 4:00 – 7:00pm

In-Person at ART/NY Studios at 520 8th Ave. 

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

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.

Developing a strong portfolio of short plays is one of the fastest ways to become a produced or published playwright. In this 8-week class, you’ll learn how to distill a compelling story into the shortest possible dramatic form, think outside of the box of structure, and have some fun.

This class might be for you if you:

• Are a playwright of any level who wants to explore the unique storytelling principles of the short form.
• Want to present your work-in-progress to a supportive community of writers.

In this class you will:

• Bring a short play to each class and receive feedback from your fellow writers and Adam, working as if you are a part of one of the many coveted writers groups in NYC (think Ars Nova Playgroup, EST’s Youngblood, Primary Stages Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, The Public’s EWG).
• Use that feedback to tackle rewrites, and bring back a second draft in the class to follow.
• Read and discuss assigned one acts (ranging from works by Kia Corthron to Chris Durang) to learn strategies for building a short play.

By the end of this class you will:

• Be well on your way to compiling a portfolio of several submission-ready short plays.
• Have comprehensive research on different avenues of submitting these short plays.
• Take away the skills to craft surprising pieces of theater, regardless of length, that reflect something deeper about the world at large.

Learn more about Adam here.

This class will be 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.

June 26, July 10, 17, 24, 31, August 7, 14, 21

Thursdays from 7:00pm – 10:00pm ET

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 8-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft. Open to new and returning students located anywhere in the world, 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.

More about class with Calamity: 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 Calamity here.

Learn more about First Draft here.

June 30, July 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18, 25

Mondays from 6:30pm – 9:30pm ET

In-Person at ART/NY South Oxford Space, located at 138 S. Oxford St. in BROOKLYN

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

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.

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 8-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft.

More about class with Iraisa Ann: In this class, writers should be ready to take the work seriously, but not themselves seriously. Be open to closing your eyes and thinking of a character, or coming up with a story from magazine cut-outs and random google searches. Be ready to write a lot. Be ready to make a mess. Be ready to show up for other students. Be ready for feedback and realize your play was not at all what you thought it was going to be. Be ready to surrender preconceived ideas you had about your characters. 

Before the first class, you’ll answer a series of questions provided by Iraisa Ann so she can get to know you and your point of view. You will spend the first couple of classes completing exercises and reading assignments that will help guide you toward your first draft. In the remaining 6 weeks, class time will be focused on sharing pages and hearing work out loud. By the end of class, you’ll have an understanding of your characters’ wants, needs, and desires that you then can begin shaping in a rewriting process. 

Iraisa Ann’s plays are tragi-comedies. She believes that sad things are funny and funny things are sad. She’s not a linear thinker, and therefore her plays often play with time and spiritual worlds. As an educator, she believes her job is to give a student notes that align with their personal style and goals as a writer. Most of her plays are bilingual (in English and Spanish) and often deal with the Latine experience in the US. A lot of plays take place in New Jersey because she grew up there and is proud of it (unironically). 

Learn more about Iraisa Ann here.

Learn more about First Draft here.

This class will be 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

July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Aug 13, 20, 27

Wednesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET

In-Person at ART/NY South Oxford Space, located at 138 S. Oxford St. in BROOKLYN

NEW STUDENT RATE: $520

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $480

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.

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 8-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft.

More about class with Michael: 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.

Learn more about Michael here.

Learn more about First Draft here.

This class will be 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