Whether you're writing your first play or your hundredth, it's not always easy to set the creative wheels in motion. This 10-week class will guide you through the development of your first draft. Open to new and returning students, this class will be run just like a real-life writing room, interacting with your instructor and classmates live either in person or via Zoom.
This class might be for you if you:
In this class you will:
By the end of this class you will:
REGISTRATION AND SCHEDULE: In-Person Class
Section A:
Instructor: Gina Femia (Writer, Kilroy's List and Leah Ryan Prize honoree)
Wednesdays from 6:00pm – 9:00pm ET
February 28, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8
Gina believes that the classroom is a place to get to know yourself, your process, and your creative language as a writer. Class sessions will include a combination of writing exercises and sharing sessions, where you read each other's pages out loud and respond to that work. Writers will bring in sections of their play (around 20 pages) every other week as a way to delve into larger sections of storytelling. Gina will encourage you to think outside of chronological order when writing, embracing the energy of what is most exciting to you instead of creating a set course for yourself. As a way to set up strong habits as a writer outside the classroom, Gina will give writing assignments every week to help develop a creative routine between sessions. This class is an opportunity for writers to continue expanding both your creative practice and practical practice in the exploration of your work.
Gina often writes in poetic realism, and their work includes themes of queerness, sexuality, and gender exploration. Writers of all levels and styles are encouraged and welcome.
Class will be held at ARTNY Studios, located at 520 8th Avenue.
Please see our Covid Policy for all in-person classes.
**Please note: This class will be fully digital for sharing and reading pages. All pages will be shared via a class Google Drive folder, and we will use devices in class to read each other's pages. Please come to class with a device (laptop, tablet, etc) and a charger/power cord for your device. If you are unable to bring your own device, please contact ESPA Administration.
REGISTRATION AND SCHEDULE: Online Classes
Section B:
Instructor: Caridad Svich (Writer, OBIE Winner for Lifetime Achievement)
Tuesdays from 5:00pm – 8:00pm ET
February 27, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 9, 16, 30, May 7, 14
This class is run as a writers' workshop. Caridad believes in an equitable and respectful writing room, sensitive to each person's respective process, but also one where a vigorous, rigorous, and intuitive approach is manifest in establishing a group atmosphere. The sessions will be structured around response to work turned in (on average 5 to 8 pages a week) with pieces read out loud in the virtual room live in class with peer and instructor response time after each sharing of work using the Liz Lerman approach. At the beginning of the semester, you will determine if everyone will share work at every session or every other session. There will be occasional in-class writing exercises, and homework will be limited to recommended reading, prompts, and/or viewings assigned. In other words, the focus will be on your generative process, and as such, homework will be minimal outside of that.
Caridad's writing focuses on human and environmental rights from a Latinx feminist perspective for the most part, though her work also explores deeply the reconfiguration of classic and modern texts, gender fluidity, and porous borders aesthetically and formally. She has also adapted novels to the stage and sustains a parallel career as a theatrical translator, editor, and artivist. Caridad's work is often labelled by others as "poetic realism" or "atomized realism."
Section C:
Instructor: Matthew Paul Olmos (Writer, so go the ghost of mexico, part one at La Mama, American Nationalism Project developed through NYTW)
Wednesdays from 6:30pm – 9:30pm ET
February 28, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8
Matthew believes in putting the playwright in charge of their own process, with each writer asking questions regarding what they were working on specifically or are needing support with, as opposed to giving prescriptive notes. In the beginning, students will bring in 8-10 pages to share each week, and depending on the needs and wants of the group, this may evolve into students alternating weeks to bring in larger sections of work. As a class, we'll read the work, give space for the playwright to ask questions, then share our experience with the pages and (if useful to the playwright) offer neutral questions/opinions. Though the class is primarily focused on bringing in pages, you might be encouraged to write for sake of discovery – such as writing exploratory scenes that would never be in the final play, trying exercises on your scene to see what it unearths.
Matthew most often writes in a theatricality where the rules of naturalism don't necessarily function in the way we are used to. He does a lot of research for his work, so some of his historically-driven plays use realism, but the world of the play is still often very theatricalized.
About the online platform for this class:
Zoom Meeting is easy to start, join, and use to collaborate online in a personable way via desktop or mobile without complicated set-ups. The Zoom Meeting Host (your ESPA instructor or administrator) sends out a meeting link and at the time of your class, you just click the link to launch the virtual classroom via your web browser. In the Zoom Meeting, each participant can share their webcam so that you're not only hearing your instructor and classmates but seeing them too, making it feel similar to being in one of the studios at ESPA. Other exciting collaborative Zoom features include Breakout Rooms in which students can meet in smaller groups, "Raise Your Hand" feature to better facilitate balanced conversation, Video Sharing, and File Transfer for your assignments. If you can't log in via a computer, there are also options to phone into the meeting so you can still participate in the class even if you find yourself without computer or internet access. And Zoom has an Apple and Android app, making it possible to take part in class from any device.
Gina Femia
Matthew Paul Olmos
Caridad Svich
PRICING
Returning Students: $560
New Students: $580
Learn about our Payment Plans.
FOR MORE INFO
Learn more about How It Works. For more information, please call 212.840.9705 or email espa@primarystages.org.