Monthly Archives :

December 2018

Creating an Electrifying 10-Minute Play with Deborah Zoe Laufer

 640 493 Play Penn

Designed for short-form pros and novices alike!

Class Description

Most successful ten-minute plays have all the elements of successful full-length plays – conflict, high stakes, suspense, complex characters with strong needs, a big unifying idea. And that all must take place within ten pages. In this class, we’ll examine the ten-minute play, and, through a series of exercises — some drawing from memory, some flights of fancy — we’ll write our own short plays! You’ll leave with two early drafts of 10-minute plays by the end of the weekend. We’ll also discuss where to send those plays once they’re polished, and what “polishing” entails. Deb will walk you through exercises to create new work and break out of your usual patterns.

Dates & Times

February 23 and 24: 1 – 5pm

Where

The Drake Downstairs Rehearsal Hall, 302 South Hicks Street, Philadelphia, PA

Bio

Deborah Zoe Laufer’s plays have been produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Portland Stage, and The Humana Festival. Informed Consent, was developed at PlayPenn in 2013. It was an Alfred P. Sloan/EST commission and appeared at The Duke Theatre in NYC in 2015 where it was a NYTimes Critic’s Pick. End Days won The ATCA Steinberg citation, and has received over 70 productions around the country, and in Germany, Russia and Australia. Other plays include Leveling Up, Out of Sterno, The Last Schwartz, Sirens, Meta, The Gulf of Westchester, Miniatures, Fortune, and Be Here Now. Deb is a recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and the Lilly Award, a graduate of Juilliard, an alumna of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and a member of The Dramatists Guild. DEBORAHZOELAUFER.com

$170

Tuition

Register Here

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.

When you register for a PlayPenn class before January 15, 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 along with a submission form.

Sold Out! Sign Up Here For The Waitlist

“PlayPenn instructors genuinely care about helping students improve their writing, and have the practical experience to back up what they teach.”

-Mark C., 2018 Student

“I was nervous, but excited before I took this class. And I was very excited when it was finished. I can’t wait to write!”

-Michelle P., 2018 Student

Dramaturgy 101 with Julia Bumke

 640 433 Play Penn

What is a dramaturg—why do you need one, and why should you want to be one?!

Class Description

This course introduces various aspects of dramaturgy to the playwright who is hungry to collaborate, both with a dramaturg and with other playwrights. It’ll approach dramaturgy from both sides of the creative process, with tips for fruitful collaboration, case studies of dramaturgical challenges in new play development, samples of research-based dramaturgy projects, and more. Students will walk away with a toolkit of dramaturgical skills that will make them better prepared for professional environments as playwrights, dramaturgs, and generative artists.

Dates & Times

March 5, 8, 12, and 15, 6pm-8pm E.S.T.

Where

Online

Bio

Julia is a Philadelphia-based new work dramaturg who is passionate about fostering playwrights, librettists, and composers at all stages of their careers. Julia’s recent work includes premieres and workshops with Opera Philadelphia, PEAK Performances at Montclair State University, Music-Theatre Group, the American Repertory Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and Passage Theatre Company, among others. She has served as a reader for PlayPenn, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Musical Theatre Factory, the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference, the A.R.T., and Williamstown Theater Festival. She’s the Director of Education at PlayPenn, a Board member of Philly-based Directors Gathering, and a regional VP for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA). An alumni of the National Critics Institute at the O’Neill (Chris Jones, mentor), Julia received her M.F.A. from the A.R.T. Institute at Harvard, and her A.B. from Princeton University.

$150

Tuition

Register Here

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.

When you register for a PlayPenn class before January 15, 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 along with a submission form.

Sign Up

“This was an unbelievable learning experience for both beginners and experienced playwrights. [My teacher] was inspiring and encouraging, smart and effective, wise and warm, informed and generous.”

Emma L., 2018 Student

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

-Stacey, 2018 Student

Seven-Week Intensive with L Feldman: Full Draft Workshop

 640 433 Play Penn

Level up with beloved PlayPenn instructor L Feldman in this new seven-week experience for advanced writers.

Class Description

Each week, the class will workshop a complete draft of a full-length play from its students. This class is recommended for students who have taken seven-week intensives with PlayPenn before, either with L Feldman or John Yearley, and who are eager to dive deeper into their playwriting practice. If you have questions about your eligibility, please reach out to Education Director, Julia Bumke, at classes@playpenn.org.

Dates & Times

Tuesdays, 5:30-8:30pm: February 26 – April 9

Where

The Drake, 302 South Hicks Street, Philadelphia, PA

Required Prep

This course is recommended for those who have already taken a seven-week intensive with PlayPenn, and who seek to develop a full-length work further. It will be capped at 8 students.

Bio

L M Feldman is a queer, feminist playwright (and circus artist) who pens plays that are wildly theatrical but deeply intimate. Formally ambitious plays that move, take up space. Plays that are questing, wrestling, asking. Plays without answers. Plays about women and queers, plays about outsiders and searchers. Plays grappling with voice and agency, opportunity and access, history and its wake. Plays about the human connection. Plays that seek to be a greater, communal, rare theatrical event in which something transcendent transpires – for those both onstage & off. Her plays include THRIVE, OR WHAT YOU WILL (Page 73 Residency, New Georges Audrey Residency); ANOTHER KIND OF SILENCE (Magic Theatre Virgin Play Festival, PlayPenn Conference, Playwrights Realm Fellowship, FEWW Prize Honorable Mention); AMANUENSIS (Georgetown University); A PEOPLE (Orbiter 3, Jewish Plays Project); THE EGG-LAYERS (Jane Chambers Honorable Mention, New Georges/Barnard College commission); GRACE, OR THE ART OF CLIMBING (Denver Center, Art House Productions, Nice People Theatre, ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Nomination, Barrymore Nomination); ensemble-devised works, including GUMSHOE (New Paradise Labs + Free Library of Philadelphia + Rosenbach Museum), WAR OF THE WORLDS: PHILADELPHIA (Swim Pony + Drexel University), AND IF YOU LOSE YOUR WAY, OR A FOOD ODYSSEY (The Invisible Dog, New York Innovative Theatre Award Nomination), and others; and a baker’s dozen of short plays. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, L is also a New Georges Affiliated Artist, a devised-work collaborator, a teacher of playwriting (Bryn Mawr College, Lantern Theatre/Jefferson Medical School, PlayPenn), and a freelance dramaturg.

$500

Tuition

Register Here

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.

When you register for a PlayPenn class before January 15, 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 along with a submission form.

Sold Out! Sign Up For The Waitlist here

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

-Shaun L., 2018 Student

“PlayPenn classes have allowed me to jumpstart new plays and reset those that need a fresh look. PlayPenn classes are a safe place to explore and discover.”

-Julie Z., 2018 Student

Making Your Own Opportunities: Self-Producing for Playwrights with Maura Krause and Emily Acker

 640 433 Play Penn

Empower yourself to produce your own work!

Class Description

If you’re a theatre artist with a project you’re itching to put on its feet, come join Maura Krause and Emily Acker to learn the fundamentals of self-production. Between them, they’ve garnered their experience from Orbiter 3, Azuka Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Applied Mechanics, and of course, mounting their own shows in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Sessions will cover everything from initial budgeting, to fundraising, to contracts, to venue liaising, to box office and marketing. By the end of the class, each student will leave with documents and an actionable producing plan. Whether you’ve never produced before, or are looking to produce on a larger scale than you have in the past, this class will help you feel ready to create the theatre you want to see — without waiting for anyone else.

Dates & Times

May 7, 9, 14, 16 at 6-8 pm; May 11 and May 18 at 10 am – 1 pm

Where

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

Required Prep

Ideally, students will already have projects in mind that they want to produce, but Maura and Emily can also help you identify an appropriate first project for self-production. The class is best suited for entrepreneurial theatre artists with minimal experience in self-production, or who have the desire to streamline an existing self-producing model.

Bio

Emily Acker is a founding member and the Director of Development and Operations of the Barrymore-Award winning playwrights collective, Orbiter 3. She is an alumna of The Foundry @ PlayPenn, InterAct Theatre Company’s Core Playwrights Residency and Philadelphia Young Playwrights. Her work has been produced and developed at Orbiter 3, Azuka Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, FringeArts, Theatre Exile, Act II Playhouse, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Young Playwrights Inc., Voice Theatre, FringeArts, Northwestern University, and Temple University. Her play I AM NOT MY MOTHERLAND was a finalist for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, and her play BOYCOTT ESTHER was a finalist for the 2018 NNPN Showcase. She contributed to the final season of All My Children on Hulu+ and is the creator of the television remake, THREE UP TWO DOWN with The Weinstein Company. She received her B.S. from Northwestern University in 2013.

 

Maura Krause is an award-winning director, creator, and producer of new work. She is the Artistic Associate at Azuka Theatre, in addition to being the Artistic Director of Barrymore Award-winning company Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first producing playwrights collective. Maura was a National New Play Network Producer-in-Residence at InterAct Theatre Company, and is currently an Associated Artist with Applied Mechanics. Maura has also worked with the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, EMP Collective, PlayPenn, Arcadia University, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and Tiny Dynamite, among others. Favorite projects include LOST IN THE MEADOW (PearlDamour), RED ASH MOSAIC (Cleveland Public Theatre), BREATHE SMOKE by Douglas Williams (Orbiter 3), TILDA SWINTON ADOPT ME PLEASE (The Greenfield Collective), THIS IS ON RECORD (Applied Mechanics), and BON IVER FIGHTS A BEAR by Douglas Williams (maura ampersand doug).

$275

Tuition

Register Here

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.

When you register for a PlayPenn class before January 15, 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 along with a submission form.

Sign Up

Whether you’re writing your first play or deep in the horrors of marketing or self-production, PlayPenn has a class to make it easier. It’s so rewarding when writers help writers, which always seems to happen at PlayPenn classes.

-Robin R., 2018 Student

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

-Stacey, 2018 Student

How to Write Like Yourself—And Have Fun While Doing It, with Kate Tarker

 640 433 Play Penn

This is not a class for learning how to write the perfect play. This is a workout for setting your imagination into overdrive.

Class Description

You have to test the edges of your creativity to know who really are. Through a succession of muscle-building prompts, we will work toward surprising ourselves. You will come away from this class with a collection of shorter pieces that could be the beginnings of something more. This course is best for writers who are not beginners, but can approach work with a beginner’s mind; playwrights who want to challenge themselves, and who don’t want to keep writing the same play over and over again.

Dates & Times

Mondays, 5:30pm-8:30pm: March 25; April 1, 8, 15

Where

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

Required Prep

Students will be instructed to send Kate an email, which should include 1) hello, and a little bit about yourself as a person and a writer, and, as an attachment: 2) a passionate manifesto about what makes a great play. This class will include some moving around, so wear comfy pants.

Bio

Kate Tarker’s plays THUNDERBODIES and Dionysus Was Such a Nice Man are having their world premieres this season, at Soho Rep and the Wilma Theater, respectively. Other plays include God is Dead, Let’s Make Love and Laura and the Sea (a finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger Award and Princess Grace Award, and a semi-finalist for the Relentless Award). Her works have been developed at The Lark, The Vineyard, The Wilma, Ars Nova, New York Theatre Workshop, Magic Theatre, Cutting Ball, the Playwrights’ Center, and The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, among others. She is the recipient of a Jerome Fellowship, The Vineyard’s Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Theater Masters’ Visionary Playwright Award, and a PWCenter/NET Ensemble Collaboration Grant. She has also collaborated with Pig Iron and SITI Company Conservatory. Tarker is a two-time MacDowell Colony Fellow, an Ars Nova Play Group alum, a New Georges Jam member, and a former Playwrights’ Center Core Writer. She has been featured twice on the Kilroys List. M.F.A. Yale.

$250

Tuition

Register Here

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.

When you register for a PlayPenn class before January 15, 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 along with a submission form.

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

Botanicals, or Giving it to God by Keenya Jackson

 150 150 Play Penn

Twice a year PlayPenn provides a free, professional public reading for a currently enrolled student. Botanicals, or Giving it to God by Keenya Jackson is the recipient of our fall semester play selection.

When:
February 11, 2019
Time: 7pm

Where:
The Proscenium Theater at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street, Philadelphia, PA

 

Joe appears to be a crotchety old man who likes to talk to his plants and pretty much no one else. After calling the police on his neighbors, Joe is no longer able to keep his head stuck in the dirt. He’s forced to deal with his neighbors, his family—and himself.

 

This reading is free and open to the public.  

 

Reservations end at 4pm the day of the reading. Seats will be available at the door.

 

Questions? Contact mail@playpenn.org

RESERVE A SEAT

Keenya Jackson is a Philadelphia playwright. She has a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from Arcadia University. In 2015, she became an active member of the Philadelphia Dramatist Center (PDC), now serving as the board secretary. Keenya continues to grow as a playwright and in theatre by studying at PlayPenn in Philadelphia and the National Symposium in Cape May, NJ. Her latest produced play was The Return of the Shogun, which was produced in 2018 by Revamp Collective’s Brief (physical) Encounters.