Crafting Dialogue: Tools & Techniques
Sharpen your dialogue to reveal character, drive story, and captivate your audience.
Class Description
Instructor: Matthew Paul Olmos (Playwright) Former DGI Title: Core Skills: Challenges of Dialogue Schedule Note: Please be aware that sessions do not occur on all consecutive weeks; not every individual date is included in the schedule. This course will give you specific tools to craft dialogue that illuminates character, enhances dramatic progression, and engages your audience in a more active way. Through in-class exercises, we'll address the challenges of writing dialogue, such as exposition, on-the-nose writing, overwriting, repetition, rhythm, and subtext. Requirements for this Class: The prior completion of two full-length plays or three one-acts OR the equivalent amount of writing in another genre (i.e. screenwriting, television writing, novels, journalism). The prior completion of an introductory dramatic writing course, either with the DGI, PlayPenn, or elsewhere. Alternatives to these requirements will be considered, though admission is not guaranteed. Please seek instructor and/or administrator approval. Expectations for this Class: We will be doing writing exercises in class, generating new work within, to strengthen your dialogue-writing skills. This is NOT a class to bring in existing work for exploration. Respect and compassion for your fellow classmates, which means applying the Golden Rule to your feedback. Before commenting on someone's play, please ask yourself how you would feel to receive the feedback you are about to give. Full participation both in terms of sharing work and providing feedback. After Completion of Class: You will have an extensive dialogue development toolbox to draw from for the duration of your playwriting career. The exercises offered will be ones you can apply to any play you write and that will lead you to know and understand your dialogue more fully. PlayPenn Summer Classes Starts July 23: Monday * Summer of Sondheim – Starts July 28, 2025 Tuesday * Writing Disability on Stage – Starts July 29, 2025 * Crafting Dialogue – Starts July 29, 2025 Wednesday * The New Canon: Plays by Visionary Women – Starts July 30, 2025 Thursday * Submissions Intensive – Starts July 23, 2025 * Script Rewrite Lab – Starts July 31, 2025 Friday * Song Dramaturgy Intensive – Starts August 1, 2025
Class Schedule
Cancellation Policy
At PlayPenn, we are proud to collaborate with exceptional artists who generously make time in their busy schedules to teach our classes. To ensure a high-quality, personalized experience, we keep class sizes intentionally small. Because of this limited capacity, we are unable to offer refunds for missed classes. We kindly ask that you confirm your availability before registering to ensure you don’t miss the chance to learn from our outstanding instructors. In the rare event that we must cancel a class due to unforeseen circumstances, a full refund will be issued.
Learn More About Your Instructor
Our teaching artists are all working professional writers—award-winning playwrights and musical theatre creators—who bring real-world experience, insight, and passion to every session.
Get to know our artists—click a name below to read their full bio.
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Sharpen your dialogue to reveal character, drive story, and captivate your audience.
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