with John Yearley
Perfect for anyone with enthusiasm for the stage!
Join John Yearley, who teaches playwriting at Temple University, for a down and dirty, nuts and bolts exploration of the basics of the art and craft of playwriting. Whether you’re a professional writer or haven’t written a word, this class is great both for polishing skills and picking up new ones.
We will cover: Traditional well-made play structure, Other structural alternatives, Creating engaging characters, Creating strong worlds, Scene-work, Monologue-work, and more. We will also do, and share, several short writing exercises.
Due to popular demand, this course is now being offered multiple times each semester. All sessions will cover the same material.
Session 4: Thursdays, December 7 and December 14 from 7-9:30pm (ET)
Philadelphia. The Drake Theater, 302 S Hicks St, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Meet in the lobby of the main stage (Proscenium Stage) and we will walk downstairs to the rehearsal room together.
You will be emailed a few pages of material to review prior to class.

John Yearley is the author of The Unrepeatable Moment (Barrow Group), Leap (Kaplan New American Play Prize, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Antigone (adaptation, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Ephemera (Gassner Award, Summer Play Festival), and Another Girl (PlayPenn, Naked Angels). His plays All in Little Pieces and A Low-Lying Fog are published by Samuel French. He is currently writing for the PBS Kids show Arthur and worked as a script doctor for New Line Cinema. He’s a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild, and twice a MacDowell Fellow.
$100
Tuition
Sold Out
This class is sold out but check out our winter and spring course options! For questions, please email classes@playpenn.org.