THEATER PLAYWRITING

Meet Deborah Yarchun, get a clear view of the weeks ahead, and start discovering what kind of writer you are, from careful planner to instinctive explorer, before your first lesson begins.

• Instructor introduction
• Course overview and outcomes
• Assignments and final project
• Building the cohort community
• Writing styles and voice: architects vs. gardeners

Discover what makes a story specifically theatrical and how writing for the stage differs from screenplays, novels, and poetry, then put those ideas to work in your first in-class scene.

• Plays vs. other forms of writing
• Theatrical storytelling
• Formatting and stage directions
• Writing exercise: End-of-the-world scene

Assignment #1: End-of-the-World Scene and Assumptions Reading
Finish your end-of-the-world scene (optional) and read José Rivera's "36 Assumptions About Playwriting" alongside Rooftop Lessons.

Explore the foundations playwrights have leaned on for centuries, from Aristotle's elements of drama to José Rivera's modern assumptions, and learn to give feedback that helps fellow writers grow.

• Aristotle's elements of drama
• José Rivera's "36 Assumptions About Playwriting"
• Giving feedback
• Workshop: End-of-the-world exercise examples
• Case study: Rooftop Lessons
• Writing exercise: Wants and needs

Assignment #2: Wants and Needs Scene and Poetics Reading
Continue your wants-and-needs scene for submission and read the assigned excerpt from Aristotle's Poetics.

Master the mechanics of dramatic structure, from point of attack to resolution, and use Freytag's pyramid to map the shifts that keep an audience leaning forward in their seats.

• Story vs. plot
• Cause and effect
• Reversals and recognition
• Inciting incident to resolution
• Freytag's pyramid
• Writing exercise: Two-character structure scene

Assignment #3: Structure Scene and True West Reading
Complete your two-character structure scene and finish Sam Shepard's True West along with his interview.

Apply structure to a modern classic by mapping Sam Shepard's True West onto Freytag's model, then look beyond the pyramid at the alternative shapes a play can take on stage.

• Character wants and tactics
• Alternative structures
• Workshop: Structure exercise examples
• Group exercise: Mapping True West onto Freytag's pyramid

Learn to build characters an audience can't look away from, starting with Aristotle's view of character and a hands-on exercise built around an ordinary inanimate object you bring to class.

• Aristotle on character
• Exercise: Inanimate object
• Case study: Selected ten-minute plays, part 1
• Writing exercise: Character profiles and monologue

Assignment #4: Character Profile and Scene
Develop a character profile, turn it into a monologue or scene, and post it to Discord.

Dig deeper into what truly reveals character on stage as you workshop your own scenes and continue unpacking a selection of contemporary ten-minute plays with your cohort.

• What reveals character
• Workshop: Character scene and monologue examples
• Case study: Selected ten-minute plays, part 2

Assignment #5: Real-Life Conversation Transcription
Transcribe a short real-life conversation and read the assigned dialogue excerpts before the next class.

Uncover the gap between how people actually talk and how characters speak on stage, practicing rhythm, meter, and context to give every character in your play a distinct voice.

• Real speech vs. dramatic dialogue
• High-context vs. low-context dialogue
• Rhythm
• Transcription feedback
• Writing exercise: Metered dialogue
• Writing exercise: Distinct voices scene

Assignment #6: Specific Voices and Language Scene
Finish your language scene using distinct voices, rhythm, and character-specific vocabulary, then post it to Discord.

Examine how each play builds its own language and world, comparing naturalistic and non-naturalistic dialogue through your classmates' scenes and a set of carefully selected excerpts.

• World-specific language
• Naturalistic vs. non-naturalistic language
• Workshop: Language exercise examples
• Case study: Selected dialogue excerpts

Harness what only live theater can do, using bodies in space, objects, and setting to create scenes with deeper dramatic meaning, guided by Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare.

• Scenes from One Flea Spare
• Bodies in space
• Objects and power
• Setting
• Writing exercise: Object or body scene

Assignment #7: Theatricality Object/Body Scene 
Continue your scene in which an object or part of the body carries dramatic weight, post it to Discord, and read Far Away.

Explore how ideas and images drive a play, using Caryl Churchill's Far Away to see how an audience comes to understand what a play is really about beneath its surface.

• Aristotle on thought
• Explorations vs. a thesis
• Titles and dominant images
• Workshop: Theatricality exercise examples
• Case study: Far Away discussion
• Writing exercise: Idea-driven scene

Investigate how form and content shape each other, drawing on Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz and writing a scene whose structure grows directly out of a single image.

• Form vs. content
• Case study: The Baltimore Waltz
• Writing exercise: Writing from an image

Assignment #8: Thought/Theatricality Scene and Critical Response Reading 
Complete and post either your thought or theatricality scene, and read the PDF on Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process.

Learn to revise with intention and give feedback that actually helps, using Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process and a group rewrite of a deliberately flawed scene in breakout rooms.

• Revision strategies
• Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process
• Workshop: Theatricality and thought exercise examples
• Case study: Examining a poorly written scene
• Breakout room: Revising the scene together

Assignment #9: Live Play Viewing Reflection
See a live play and submit a written reflection on the experience.

Hear your ten-minute play read aloud by fellow writers in a professionally facilitated small-group workshop, followed by focused feedback using the Liz Lerman critical response structure.

• Facilitated small-group readings
• Plays performed aloud by participants
• Five-minute feedback rounds
• Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process

Continue the facilitated table reads as new plays come to life in your group, sharpening your ear for what lands with an audience and how to respond to peers' work.

• Facilitated small-group readings
• Plays performed aloud by participants
• Five-minute feedback rounds
• Active listening during live readings

Close out the workshop series with a final round of readings and feedback, then turn everything you've heard into a clear revision plan for your ten-minute play.

• Facilitated small-group readings
• Plays performed aloud by participants
• Five-minute feedback rounds
• Turning feedback into revisions

Assignment #10: Final Playwriting Assumption 
Write your own personal assumption about playwriting and share it in Discord before the final lesson.

Assignment #11: Final Ten-Minute Play Revision
Revise your ten-minute play using peer and instructor feedback and submit the final draft within two weeks.

Prepare for life after the course by learning to format a title page, write a strong synopsis, and find the submission opportunities and community that keep you writing long term.

• Title page formatting
• Writing a strong synopsis
• Submission opportunities
• Readings, workshops, and development
• Building a writing practice
• Finding your community