June 16, 23, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 11, 18

Tuesdays 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. 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 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, time is not spent on writing exercises in 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.

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

Tuesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm 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 Matthew: Matthew believes in putting the playwright in charge of their own process, with each writer asking questions regarding what they were working on specifically or are needing support with, as opposed to giving prescriptive notes. In the beginning, students will bring in 8-10 pages to share each week, and depending on the needs and wants of the group, this may evolve into students alternating weeks to bring in larger sections of work. As a class, we’ll read the work, give space for the playwright to ask questions, then share our experience with the pages and (if useful to the playwright) offer neutral questions/opinions. Though the class is primarily focused on bringing in pages, you might be encouraged to write for sake of discovery – such as writing exploratory scenes that would never be in the final play, trying exercises on your scene to see what it unearths.

Matthew most often writes in a theatricality where the rules of naturalism don’t necessarily function in the way we are used to. He does a lot of research for his work, so some of his historically-driven plays use realism, but the world of the play is still often very theatricalized.

Learn more about Matthew here.

Read more about First Draft here.