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 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 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.