"Playwriting as a practice is one of the last bastions of expression for us, working class artists. It's the one artform that allows any of us to speak without the constraints of big money advertisement, corporate ownership, or control. If you want to see the truly unique and amazing ideas of our community, come see an original play." - Mike McGettigan

Individuals or Teams Welcome

Sign up as a individual or with your writing partner. Students can work with their writing partner or individually in this course.

An Original Class Designed by 2 playwrights

This unique class was designed by Will Street [Detroit Rep] and Mike McGettigan [Planet Ant] to give students a solid and fertile foundation to propels their ideas into original plays created for a modern stage. By the end of the Level 1 session students will have 2 full scenes developed from different starting points culminating in a live public reading that students cast and direct themselves.

Playwriting by YOU

The program is designed in such a way that the choice of content and style is completely up to the student. Comedy, drama, musical, absurd, farce, or any style that inspires is on the table. Class sizes are kept small in order to make sure all involved get the attention they deserve.

The instructor gives you assignments that involve some of the basic tenets of stage writing and works on evolving your homework into full fledged scenes that can be the basis for any stage based creative writing style. This class takes into account modern sensibilities about theatrical production and what works on a stage as opposed to TV or Film. It also builds off of the long history that the Planet Ant community has with creating original works for the stage and also utilizes everyone in the class for guided discussion and feedback.

We have a long history of fostering original works

We've been a home for theatrical productions ever since our opening as a theatre as headed by Planet Ant alum Keegan Michael Key. We have a long history of award winning original drama and comedy. Our legacy has been built by some of the most creative minds in metro Detroit. We've used our storied past to inform our future as we continue to develop new playwrights with dozens and dozens of world premier original plays on the Planet Ant stages.

What's the end product?

Completing this course in all of its levels will give you a full one act festival ready script that you can feel confident in submitting to any theatre.

Full Course Overview

Level 1

This section of one act writing is designed to get you working on the basics of your one act. These levels are designed with the beginner in mind. You'll be doing multiple exercises focused on character, motivation, and dialogue. This level culminates in a live table read cast by you!

Level 2

T his level expands on your original scenes and expands your idea to a full length play. You'll use this level to examine character arcs, story concepts, and storytelling techniques that will shape your idea into something you love.

Level 3 & 4

Further levels are designed to get your play to a finished state through discussion, feedback and table reads as you add additional scenes, work with class feedback, and learn the power of editing.

Student Handbook

Click below for our most recent version

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Planet Ant's regularly updated student handbook offers students a central location for all the information you need to know about our classes, policies, and more.

CLASS | Modern Play Writing | Level 1 | START HERE