Playwriting Classes with Jack

Many of the books and courses you can find on playwriting draw on classic plays—from the Greeks to Shakespeare to Ibsen—as the basis of their dramaturgy. But the Aristotelian unities and the tenets of psychological Realism are ill-equipped to evaluate, let alone produce, many of the works being staged across the country and the globe in the last 30 or so years. If you want to learn to write like a contemporary playwright, you’re going to have to look beyond traditional, linear structure and conventional idioms.

In this class for beginners and experienced writers alike, we will study five distinct plays that exemplify aspects of contemporary dramatic writing, from contemporary naturalism to high-concept social commentary, and develop our own unique modes of expression through a series of exercises. The class will culminate in two workshop sessions, where students will have a selection of material (dependent on time/class size, at least 10 minutes of material) read out loud and receive feedback. Workshop sessions will be recorded and shared with you for your personal use.

Course details:

• Meets Saturdays 1-3:30pm Pacific/3-5:30pm Eastern Time. (no class 11/30)
• Classes meet virtually via Zoom. 
• Max enrollment is 10, minimum enrollment is 4.
• Students are responsible for securing their own copies of the plays we study.