Weekend 1: Curing The Block - Stretching Your Creative Muscles

Weekend 2: Building Blocks - Writing Your First Draft

Two-weekend workshop
July 11-13 and 18-20

Fridays from 6:30pm – 9:00pm ET
Saturdays from 11:00am – 6:00pm ET
Sundays from 12:00pm – 6:00pm ET 

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

NEW STUDENT RATE: $380

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $360

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 battling writer’s block, intimidated by the blank page, or are just too overwhelmed to make time for yourself to write, this bootcamp is designed to give you the jolt of inspiration you need to get your ideas on the page. Over the course of two weekends, playwright, director, and dramaturg Mêlisa Annis will lead you through a generative writing process to complete a messy first draft of a play. 

This workshop might be for you if you:

• Are a playwright with a seed of an idea that you'd like to explore in a fun, focused, and intensive environment.
• Need a jumpstart to get creative ideas out of your head and onto the page.

In this workshop:

• The first weekend is about inspiration. Use writing exercises and in-class discussion to bypass your critical mind, generate material without judgement, and kick off your first draft. 
• Take the time between the two weekends to process, dream, research, and focus on an idea, character, or world. 
• Fueled by your first weekend, use the second weekend to write and share, focus your ideas, and expand your writing into a messy first draft.

By the end of class you will have: 

• A solid start on—or even complete!—messy first draft of your next play.
• Notes, feedback, and next steps to continue your play outside of the bootcamp setting. 
• New writing exercises if you ever find yourself stuck and need some inspiration

Learn more about Mêlisa 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 29, August 5, 12, 19, 26

Tuesdays from 6:00 – 10:00pm

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

NEW STUDENT RATE: $400

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $380

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.

Regardless of the genre, playwright, or period, the director’s job is to create a unified vision for a production that inspires collaboration among the artists and a transformative experience for the audience. This 5-week class is for directors of all levels to actively and collaboratively refine their approach to contemporary text, explore the rehearsal process, and experiment with form in a safe environment.

This class might be for you if you: 

• Are an experienced director wanting to expand your versatility and refine your technique as a director by working on your feet with actors.
• Are a newer director looking to get experience, but don't have a venue or opportunity to safely experiment.
• Want to create work guided by John in a safe environment where exploration and experimentation are encouraged.
• Are ready to dedicate at least 3 hours of out-of-class time per week to rehearse with your actors. 

In this class you will:

• Focus on communicating with the actor, creating relationships that will bring out their best possible performances and the best representation of your vision for a piece.
• Spend the first class session delving into a scene together, provided by John, where he will demonstrate how to conduct scene study and you’ll discuss how to approach contemporary text.
• Prior to the first class, receive audition self-tapes from actors that you should watch before the first class session. Cast actors and create a rehearsal schedule for each of your pieces, using actors from the audition self-tapes or that you bring in from your own community of artists. 
• Each director will choose and work intensively on two contemporary scenes over the course of the class. The limited class size of 8 means that you will show work every other week in order to incorporate notes and feedback on your feet with your actors when you present.
• Give constructive feedback to your fellow directors (as led and modeled by John), honing your ability to analyze what is working well and what is not working so well in a scene.

By the end of this class you will: 

• Understand how to effectively discover and communicate your artistic vision in the rehearsal room.
• Be able to focus on the actor in any project, knowing that the success or failure of a piece is predicated on your relationships with your actors.
• Possess a foundation for approaching contemporary text, and the tools to approach any rehearsal process with confidence.

 Learn more about John here.