February 24, March 3, 24, 31, April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12

Tuesdays from 5:00pm – 8:00pm ET

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE: $580 

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $560

Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 10-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 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.

Learn more about First Draft here.

February 24, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, April 7, 14, 21, 28

Tuesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE: $560

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $540

For the playwright, dialogue is one of the key ways to fully express character, relationships, and the world of the play. Through a series of dialogue exercises led by playwright Matthew Paul Olmos, you’ll hone your skills of dialogue writing in order to engage your audiences in a more meaningful way.

This class might be for you if you:

• Are a playwright of any level looking to deepen your work and enhance your dialogue skills.
• Want to stay committed to your writing without the pressure of having to write or work toward a draft of a play.
• Want concrete deadlines and constructive feedback specific to your dialogue skills.

In this class you will:

• Complete exercises and assignments to explore the tools of dialogue, specifically addressing characterization, exposition, over-writing, rhythm, and subtext.
• Study dialogue in other plays as sources of inspiration.
• Engage in discussion with fellow writers, making connections with your artistic peers.

By the end of this class you will have:

• The tools to create engaging, fully-formed dialogue that will compel audiences to lean into your work, as opposed to passively listening.
• A strong understanding of dialogue and be ready to apply it to your next play or draft.

Learn more about Matthew here.

February 24, March 3, 10, 17, 24

Tuesdays from 7:00pm – 10:00pm ET

via Zoom

NEW STUDENT RATE: $320

RETURNING STUDENT RATE: $280

This 5-week class is for theater artists of any discipline to learn about theater as a business in order to produce your own work and better understand the priorities for your work no matter your role within a production.

This class might be for you if you are:

• A theater artist of any discipline (actor, writer, director, designer, and more) looking to create and produce your own work.
• An emerging producer looking to better understand the nuts and bolts of the business.
• An artist looking to better understand the business in order to gain clarity about priorities and know better how to advocate for their work.

In this class you will:

• Demystify the way theater actually takes place as a business.
• Discuss the differences between commercial and not-for-profit theater.
• Have a startlingly realistic introduction to fundraising for both donations and investments.
• Learn about and put into practice budgets, contracts, and option agreements.
• Survey the distinctions between productions and production budgets from Showcase Code to Broadway.

By the end of this workshop you will:

• Understand the ins and outs of theater as a business – from indie theater to Broadway.
• Possess the tools to embark on any producing project in an informed and prepared way.
• Better understand how you as an artist are pitching yourself to different types of theaters by understanding their business models.

Learn more about John here.