Class Description
How do you rekindle your original impulses, let go of the things you don’t need, and focus on the beating heart of your story? Playwriting II is designed to give intermediate writers and those with workshop experience an intensive review and analysis of a full-length play in progress.
Over the course of six weeks, students will learn strategies for revising their plays including zooming in on details like dynamic dialogue and character behavior, and zooming out to look at structure, action, stakes, and character arcs. Classes will be a mix of discussion of student work, examination of particular craft issues, and writing exercises tailored to the needs of the group. We'll also examine the work of such playwrights as Ayad Ahktar, Anton Chekhov, Gina Gionfriddo, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Sarah Ruhl, and Lynn Nottage.
Everyone will hear newly revised pages out loud (absolutely essential for playwrights) and receive constructive feedback. You’ll complete weekly writing assignments that will bring out the underlying core of your play.
Playwriting II is the perfect next step for students who have taken Introduction to Playwriting. The second class in the full-length playwriting series, it is followed by Master Scriptwriting, which prepares plays for professional submission and culminates in a public reading with professional actors at the Boston Center for the Arts.
Playwrights should either have a finished draft, or have started a draft of a play but need a push to get to the end.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.