CLASS DESCRIPTION
Do you want to write something you’re proud of this fall? Are you craving supportive but rigorous feedback on your pages… paired with sweet, sweet weekly deadlines? If so, this playwright’s workshop is for you. Writing a play is an ambitious, complex undertaking that requires next-level patience, fortitude, and problem-solving… but the process doesn’t have to be a lonely slog.

In this cozy eight-week workshop, capped at 8 participants, we’ll read your new pages out loud every week and share thoughtful, tailored feedback on your work in progress. You’ll be sharing about ten pages per session.

You’re welcome to work on a first draft or a second, third, or seventh draft. You don’t have to write chronologically through the draft if that’s not your style. I do suggest committing to one play for the duration of the workshop. If you’ve already written a feral Draft Zero, this would be a great place to rework your pages with a more fine-toothed comb.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-Clear, honest feedback to keep you organized and galvanized.
-The life-changing magic of deadlines.
-A supportive crew for commiseration and elation, making the writing process less lonely and more fun.
-Guidance from an open-minded, supportive, playful, and always down-to-earth facilitator (that’s me).
-Encouragement towards finding the shape that is uniquely right for your play, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to structure and form.
-Recommendations for plays to read that are in conversation with your work.

WHAT YOU’LL COME AWAY WITH
If you’re doing the work and showing up consistently, you should emerge from this experience with 80 new pages of work or, quite possibly, a full new draft.
You’ll set your own specific goals in the first week and check in with them at the end.

WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR
This is a professional-level writing workshop open to playwrights of all levels. It thrives and depends on community spirit. You’ll need to bring generosity and curiosity towards each other’s work alongside a serious commitment to making progress on your own play.

CLASS STRUCTURE
Every week, we will read 10 new pages out loud from every participant and give supportive, constructive feedback using Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. There will be a ten minute break about halfway through.

HOW TO PREPARE
You’ll need to have your first ten pages ready before our first session. Once you sign up I’ll let you know where to share them.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS
-The class is intentionally small and capped at 8 participants.
-Sessions are held over Zoom and make use of Google Classroom.
-There will be no recordings of class sessions. Be there or be square.
-To maintain the in-person feel, we will generally keep cameras on, but you’re welcome to turn off “self view,” and we’ll build in micro breaks for our eyes and bodies to ward off Zoom fatigue.
-Before we start, everyone will need to agree to and sign a community code of conduct. This is in the interest of keeping the space welcoming, generative, and emotionally healthy for all. Violating the code of conduct can lead to losing your spot in the workshop.
-Reach out if you need a payment plan.

IF YOU CRAVE MORE SUPPORT AND FEEDBACK…
You can pair this class with booking one-on-one draft feedback and/or consulting sessions according to your specific project and writer development needs. You can also pair it with Draft Zero for more bubbly community energy and writing prompts.

CANCELLATION POLICY
If you cancel your registration up to a week before the first session, you will receive a full refund. If you cancel one week to 36 hours before our first session, you’ll receive a 50% refund. There are no refunds or partial refunds starting 36 hours prior to class time.

ABOUT ME
I’m an award-winning professional playwright with past productions in NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Germany. I studied under Paula Vogel at the Yale School of Drama, where I received my MFA in 2014. Her teaching has informed my own. The press have called my plays “screamingly funny” (NYTimes), “staggeringly original” (SF Chronicle), “exuberant” (The New Yorker), and “highbrow + brilliant” (NY Magazine).

I consider my teaching, mentoring, and coaching an essential and joyful part of my creative practice. I’ve taught at MIT, NYU Tisch, Yale, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, Brown, PlayPenn, University of the Arts, Salve Regina, and Macalester College.

As a writer, I'm driven by a relentless and rebellious curiosity about what the medium of live theater can do. I write countercultural plays for smart, curious audiences, and trust in the powers of radical truth telling, community gathering, and collective effervescence to overhaul our most delusional and damaging cultural scripts.

If you have any additional questions, email me!