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In this new 4 Week Playwriting class with Broadway playwright and Pulitzer finalist Lisa D’Amour, you’ll develop an organic approach to writing your play or one-person-show. Whether you’re working on a traditional play or a genre defying work, you’ll learn how to externalize your internal instincts, understand playwriting structure in an intuitive and visceral way and create a powerful journey for yourself and your characters. Learn how to get past your inner censor, and tap into the characters and stories inside of you. Build both your voice and your craft as an artist, and learn the secrets of creating compelling dialogue and unforgettable characters on the stage. Lisa D’Amour has taught at the finest theatre MFA programs in the nation, including a role as interim director of MFA Playwriting at Brown University. Her play Detroit was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and won the Obie Award for Best New American Play. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Freedman Theater, Playwrights Horizons (NYC), Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago), The National Theater (London) as well as many others across the globe. The class culminates in a 1:1 consultation with a professional writer, with whom you’ll discuss your work, and create a game plan for your future as a writer. An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Purchase required) Anna Bella Eema by Lisa D’Amour (JK Studio provided)
My thesis play was based on my family and I felt utterly lost more than once while writing it. Time and again, Lisa offered nuanced suggestions for how to honor a true story and attend to the writing of the play. I have never had a writing teacher who I felt believed in me as much as Lisa has. And by “believed,” I mean she offered meticulous notes, gave creative feedback, posed exciting new questions, and shared personal advice. She took me seriously and my writing life feels possible in great part because of this relationship. Lisa is a wonderful mentor. She’s attentive, thoughtful, and very thorough in her feedback. She has helped me hone my craft and, more importantly, helped me believe in myself and my voice as an artist and writer. I don’t think there’s more you could ask for in a teacher. Studying playwriting with Lisa was transformative. Her eye is nurturing and incisive. She helped me find the rhythm of my writing and also the larger musical structures at work in any given play. Lisa is unbelievably attuned to the frequency of a play — emotionally, structurally, visually. I regularly think about things Lisa said in class eight years ago while I write. She exposed me to an array of plays and traditions and pushed me to be more bold, more specific, and more humane.
Playwriting
Find Your Structure
Connect to Your Characters
Learn from a Master Playwright
Includes 1:1 Consultation
Required Reading Material
Upcoming Playwriting Classes
Reviews
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Noah S.
I took playwriting with Lisa D’ Amour and it was a wonderful experience! Lisa was an amazing teacher, very insightful, and she helped inspire many new ideas for my play.