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 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 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

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.