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.