Monthly Archives :

August 2018

Pitches, Bitches! with Chisa Hutchinson

 640 433 Play Penn

You wrote a play. Cool. Let's talk about synopses, cover letters, follow-ups, and cultivation.

Class Description

This four-hour intensive will give you the tools to package your play for the industry like a pro.

Dates & Times

October 8th and 15th, 6:30PM-8:30PM EST

Where

Online

Required Prep

Students should come to the first session with several “elevator pitches” of their work: short descriptions of what their script is and why they care about it. These will be revisited and revised over the course of the two sessions.

Bio

Chisa Hutchinson (B.A. Vassar College; M.F.A NYU – Tisch School of the Arts) is a New York-based playwright and screenwriter. She is currently working mercenary-style on a screenplay for A&E/Lifetime and two indie film originals. And because she’s always up for a new challenge, she also just wrote a radio play for Audible, which will be both recorded for their international platform and produced live later this year at Minetta Lane Theatre. Chisa’s happily presented her other plays, which include Dirt Rich, She Like Girls,This Is Not The Play, Sex On Sunday, Tunde’s Trumpet, The Subject, Somebody’s Daughter, Alondra Was Here, Surely Goodness And Mercy, From The Author Of, Amerikin and Dead & Breathing at such venues as the Lark Theater, SummerStage, Atlantic Theater Company, Mad Dog Theater Company, Rattlestick Theater, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, the National Black Theatre, Writers’ Theatre of New Jersey, Delaware REP, Second Stage Theater and Arch 468 in London. She has been a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a Lark Fellow, a Resident at Second Stage Theater, a Humanitas Fellow, a New York NeoFuturist, and a staff writer for the Blue Man Group. Chisa has won a GLAAD Award, a Lilly Award, a New York Innovative Theatre Award, the Paul Green Award, a Helen Merrill Award, the Lanford Wilson Award, and has been a finalist for the highly coveted PoNY Fellowship. Currently, in addition to being a Fellow at Primary Stages and a proud fifth-year member of New Dramatists, Chisa is gearing up for three NYC theater productions and settling down to write a revenge play about white folks who call the cops on black folks for no good reason for South Coast Rep. To learn more, visit www.chisahutchinson.com .

$85

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sign Up

“Taking a class with PlayPenn was one of the best decisions I could have made for my career.”

-Shaun L., 2018 Student

“If you are thinking about taking a class from PlayPenn, do it.”

-Stacey, 2018 Student

Adaptation with Jake Mariani

 640 433 Play Penn

What makes a modern theatrical adaptation electrifying?

Class Description

This class pairs lively discussions of adaptations in the Western cannon with hands-on workshopping time for students’ own adaptations. Each week, students will be encouraged to write a new fragmented excerpt based on a different play read in class. By the end of class, students will have generated several different pieces that have potential to be expanded into full-length plays.

Dates & Times

October 3, 10, 17, and 24; 7-9pm

Where

Young Playwrights Independence Foundation Learning Lab (1219 Vine Street, 3rd Floor); Philadelphia, PA

Required Prep

Be ready to read some plays, watch some production videos, and write some fragments!

Bio

Jake Anthony Mariani has studied poetry with Kathleen Ossip at The New School; and playwriting with Kathleen Tolan, Madeleine George, Anne Washburn, Sarah DeLappe, and Lucas Hnath at Rutgers University (M.F.A in Playwriting). Their work has received readings at the Ensemble Studio Theater and has been performed at Dixon Place. They have contributed to the Poetry Magazine, Sink Review. They are a founding member of the performance group hotdogfuguestate.

$150

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

 

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sign Up

“It’s a truly supportive and interactive community in which you’ll meet like-minded creatives.”

-2018 Student

“PlayPenn was inviting. Our workshop was intelligent, captivating, collaborative, thought provoking, and left me wanting more!”

-Jean M., 2018 Student

Seven-Week Intensive with John Yearley

 640 433 Play Penn

Perfect for starting a new script or developing a work-in-progress in a supportive and hands-on atmosphere!

Class Description

Join PlayPenn favorite and Foundry lead artist John Yearley for this seven-week intensive. All genres and lengths of plays are welcome, as are writers at all experience levels. Sessions will begin with writing prompts and end with artist-driven feedback on student-written scenes. At the final meeting of the workshop, you will hear a 10-page excerpt of your script read by professional actors. This workshop is limited to 12 students, and spots fill quickly; reserve your seat today!

Dates & Times

Oct. 16, Oct. 23, Oct. 30, Nov. 6, Nov. 13, Nov. 27, Dec. 4: 5:30-8:30pm

Where

The class will be held in the Rehearsal Room of the Drake Theatre in Center City. You can enter the space from the loading dock area off of 16th & Delancey Street, where you’ll go down a flight of steps at the end of the dock. The TA will be getting there early to meet folks and guide you to the room.

Required Prep

Students may use this class to develop a play that is already in progress, to start a new work from scratch, or anything in between. No preparation is required.

Bio

John Yearley is the author of The Unrepeatable Moment (“Thought provoking…exhilarating…painfully hilarious” – New York Times, “Yearley is a master” – Huffington Post), Leap (Mickey Kaplan New American Play Prize, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Ephemera (John Gassner Award), Another Girl (PlayPenn), and Bruno Hauptmann Kissed My Forehead (Abingdon Theatre). His latest play, Eight Minutes, Twenty Seconds, was workshopped by LABryinth Theatre Company and performed at Temple University. Work for young audiences include The Last Wish (Macy’s New Play Prize for Young Audiences) and an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone. Short plays All in Little Pieces and A Low-Lying Fog are available
through Samuel French. He writes for the PBS Kids animated show Arthur, and previously worked as a “script doctor” for New Line Cinema. Member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild, and twice a MacDowell Fellow. MFA in Playwriting from Temple University.

$425

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

 

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sold out!

Email classes@playpenn.org to sign up for the waitlist and learn about similar classes next semester!

“This was one of the warmest and most supportive class atmospheres I’ve ever been in.”

-Kara W., 2018 Student

“PlayPenn was inviting. Our workshop was intelligent, captivating, collaborative, thought provoking, and left me wanting more!”

-Jean M., 2018 Student

Cocktails and Real Talk with Literary Manager Anne Morgan

 640 433 Play Penn

Commissions and conferences, workshops and woes: what does it mean to get your play developed, and where should you start?

Class Description

Literary Manager extraordinaire Anne G. Morgan reads countless new projects each year, and is a passionate advocate for new work. Anne will sit down with Director of Education Julia Bumke to talk about contemporary American new play development; how to collaborate with literary staff; and the process of working on your play in commission, workshop, and reading contexts. They’ll then open the floor for your questions about all areas of institutional new play development.

Dates & Times

Thursday, Oct. 11, 5:30-7:30pm

Where

The third floor at Good Dog Bar, 224 South 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. The downstairs bar will be open beforehand, during and after. You are welcome to bring your food and drink upstairs with you for the event.

Bio

Anne G. Morgan is the Literary Manager at the American Shakespeare Center. She is the dramaturg for the ASC’s 2018/10 world premieres: Emma by Emma Whipday; Anne Page Hates Fun by Amy E. Witting; and 16 Winters, or The Bear’s Tale by Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, and provides additional dramaturgical support to all of ASC’s productions. She leads Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries, a bold new initiative to discover, develop and produce new plays inspired by and in conversation with Shakespeare’s works. Prior to joining ASC, Anne was the Literary Manager & Dramaturg at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. At the O’Neill, she provided dramaturgical support to the center’s programs and managed its selection processes (over 1,500 applications annually). At the O’Neill, she served as dramaturg on new plays by David Auburn, Bekah Brunstetter, Adam Esquenazi Douglas, A. Rey Pamatmat, and more; new musicals by Ronve O’Daniel and Jevares C. Myrick, Daniel and Patrick Lazour, and Sam Willmott; and was the resident dramaturg for the National Puppetry Conference and the Henson Puppetry Residency. Other dramaturgy credits include We Live in Cairo (NYTW); The Found Dog Ribbon Dance (Kennedy Center/National New Play Network MFA Playwrights’ Workshop); The Aliens, The Emancipation of Mandy and Miz Ellie, and The Overwhelming (Company One); and more. Anne has worked internationally at the Baltic Playwrights Conference, the Latvian Academy of Culture, and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has taught dramaturgy and script analysis at the University of Connecticut, the National Theater Institute, and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

$40

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

 

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sign Up

“There is always more to learn and the faculty for the PlayPenn workshops are seasoned, intelligent, thoughtful instructors who make sure that beginners and more experienced writers get something out of the classes.”

-Barbara B., 2018 Student

“Taking a class with PlayPenn was one of the best decisions I could have made for my career.”

-Shaun L., 2018 Student

The Making of a Musical with Daniel and Patrick Lazour

 640 433 Play Penn

How do you take your musical from a nascent idea to a national stage?

Class Description

The average musical takes at least five years to make, with dreams dreamed, dashed, then dreamed again. Daniel and Patrick Lazour know this process firsthand: their musical WE LIVE IN CAIRO, first workshopped at the O’Neill Theater Center in 2015, receives its world premiere at A.R.T. in Spring 2019. Their class will go behind the scenes of this process, offering advice and talking through case studies about how to foster your project with an eye toward production. Daniel and Patrick lend a friendly and practical approach to interfacing with producers, agents and artistic staff. They’ll discuss the revision process, the building of a creative team, the workshops, the retreats, and the filtering of all-too-many notes. A great glimpse into the musical theater industry for writers and theater-lovers alike!

Dates & Times

November 5, November 8, November 12, and November 15; 6-8pm

Where

Online

Required Prep

A familiarity with recent Broadway musicals may be helpful for case studies, but is not required. All experience levels are welcome.

Bio

Daniel and Patrick Lazour (book, music and lyrics) are brothers and music theatre writers. They have workshopped their work at the O’Neill National Music Theater Conference and at New York Theatre Workshop under the 2016 Richard Rodgers Award. Their musical WE LIVE IN CAIRO will be produced at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA as part of their 2018/2019 season, directed by Taibi Magar. They have developed their work during residencies at the O’Neill, SPACE on Ryder Farm and the MacDowell Colony. Their new musical, BETHESDA, about the first chemotherapy trials in the 1950s and 60s, was workshopped at the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Theatre and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Patrick and Daniel were 2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellows and are New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspects. Most recently, they were artists-in-residence at the American University in Cairo. They can be heard performing their songs live at Cornelia Street Café.

$170

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

 

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sign Up

“If you are thinking about taking a class from PlayPenn, do it.”

-Stacey, 2018 Student

“Taking a class with PlayPenn was one of the best decisions I could have made for my career.”

-Shaun L., 2018 Student

Unleash the Writer Within with Amy Witting

 640 433 Play Penn

We all have stories to tell, but how do we unlock our creative potential to tell them?

Class Description

This workshop provides you with a series of exercises geared toward pushing past your fear and embracing your unique voice. Identifying our blocks and resting on the page, each student will walk away with tools to help push them forward on their unique journey as a writer. Led by a self-taught playwright and TV/film writer, this workshop is open to all writers. This course will help jumpstart your writing as you begin your own play, TV pilot, or screenplay.

Dates & Times

November 10 – 11, 1-5pm

Where

Young Playwrights Independence Foundation Learning Lab (1219 Vine Street, 2nd Floor)

Bio

Amy E. Witting finally admits she is from New Jersey, although she now resides in Sunnyside, New York. She received her bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and her MFA in playwriting from Hunter College. Her plays include The House on the Hill (Atlantic Theater Inaugural LAUNCH Commission, NNPN National Showcase, CATF World Premiere), Anne Page Hates Fun (ASC Upcoming World Premiere), The Midnight Ride of Sean & Lucy (Roundabout Underground Workshop featuring Elisabeth Moss & Bryce Pinkham, Semi-finalist 2017 O’Neil Playwrights Conference), Day 392 (The Kennedy Center ACTF/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Hunter Playwrights Week, Honorable Mention Kilroy’s List), and A Bad Night: A Documentary Play About Consent (MTC’s Creative Center, June Havoc Theatre, Upcoming NY Rep Workshop). She has received a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship, NEA Grant, The Anne Freedman Grant, and winner of the 2018 Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Prize. Her plays have been developed at Atlantic Theater Company, Roundabout Theatre, The Lark Play Development Center, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Pipeline PlayLAB, Tofte Lake Center, Unicorn Theatre, NJ Rep, National New Play Network, and The Kennedy Center.  She is currently under commission from The Queens Council on the Arts for her upcoming project Sunnyside Impressions.  While she is not writing, Amy is busy working in the New York Public School system as a Teaching Artist where she most recently curated an original play about young immigrants called Catch Me in America.

$150

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

 

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sign Up

“There is always more to learn and the faculty for the PlayPenn workshops are seasoned, intelligent, thoughtful instructors who make sure that beginners and more experienced writers get something out of the classes.”

-Barbara B., 2018 Student

“I enjoyed being in a room with such gifted people who were just as excited about theater and playwriting as the teacher.”

-Patricia P., 2018 Student

The Art of Rewriting with Michele Lowe

 640 433 Play Penn

So you've written a full script: now what?

Class Description

Playwright and writing coach Michele Lowe leads a core group of students through rewriting their drafts in this weekend-long intensive. Michele is intimately familiar with the challenges of self-editing: as part of the class, she’ll talk you through early drafts of her own produced works, demonstrating the process that all playwrights go through in creating a strong finished product. You will share your drafts with Michele prior to the start of class, and will hit the ground running to talk through the questions, pitfalls, and challenges of honing your work. After a Saturday morning session, time will be set aside for students to privately revise their work, bringing in fresh pages on Sunday for further conversation. This is a great class for beginners and experienced writers alike who want to take their full scripts to the next level, and is particularly helpful before submitting drafts to conferences or competitions.

Dates & Times

October 27 and 28; Saturday 12-4pm and Sunday 10AM-2PM.

Where

Philadelphia Young Playwrights Independence Foundation Learning Lab, located at 1219 Vine Street on the 3rd Floor

Required Prep

Students will submit their full script drafts to Michele by email one month prior to the start of class. Students who do not send these materials will be unable to participate.

Bio

Michele Lowe is a playwright, lyricist, and librettist. Current projects: The Greatest (Artist in Residence, Sundance Theatre Lab) The Proxy Marriage with composer Adam Gwon and a commission for Transport Group’s 20th Century Project with composer Zoe Sarnak. Broadway: The Smell of the Kill; Off Broadway: String of Pearls (Outer Critics nom), A Thousand Words Come to Mind with composer Scott Davenport Richards; Regional: Inana (Francesca Primus Prize, Susan Blackburn finalist, Edgerton New Play Award), Victoria Musica, Map of Heaven (Edgerton New Play Award), Mezzulah 1946, Backsliding in the Promised Land. Two-time finalist for the ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award. Produced/developed by Primary Stages, Vineyard Theatre, Le Pepiniere (Paris), Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Williamstown Theater Festival, New York Stage and Film, O’Neill National Music Theater Conference, Lark, Colorado New Play Summit, New Harmony Project, American Music Theatre Project, and Hedgebrook. Michele lives in New York and works with writers, clergy, and political candidates across the country. Michele is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is a member of The Dramatist Guild and ASCAP, and serves on the board of trustees for the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. She is on the faculty of the Dramatist Guild Institute and ESPA. www.michelelowe.net

$200

Tuition

Register Here

When you register for a PlayPenn class before September 25, 2018, you’ll be invited to submit your unproduced, full-length play for consideration for a professional staged reading. PlayPenn will produce one student’s play as a reading with a professional director, professional actors and a PlayPenn dramaturg in Philadelphia in the spring/summer of 2019. Only plays that have not had a professional production or reading will be considered. PlayPenn will cover the cost of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you after September 25, along with a submission form.

 

Click the link below to visit our Reservation Page, where you can view all classes and register for this course. For questions or to inquire about payment plans, please email classes@playpenn.org.

Sign Up

“Taking a class with PlayPenn was one of the best decisions I could have made in my career.”

-Shaun L., 2018 Student

“This was one of the warmest and most supportive class atmospheres I’ve ever been in.”

-Kara W., 2018 Student