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Michele Volansky

2020 Conference Deep Dive with Michele Volansky

 640 433 Play Penn

This course will meet to discuss each of the Conference plays, teasing out thematic links and talking through the Conference season as a whole.

Class Description

Associate Artistic Director and Conference Dramaturg Michele Volansky will conduct a “deep dive” exploration of the six extraordinary plays in our 2020 Conference line-up. This course will meet three times to discuss each of the Conference plays, teasing out their thematic, structural,and character elements and discussing their progress during the Conference. Participants are invited to “attend” at least one of the six scheduled readings as a way of tracking the evolution of the play as a way of conducting their own deep dive.

Dates & Times

Thursday July 9th 4:30-6:30
Discuss overall plan, BADLANDS and COVENANT

Thursday July 16th , 4:30-6:30
Update on BADLANDS and COVENANT and discuss MY MOTHER THE SUN and TAKE MY HAND AND WAVE GOODBYE

Thursday July 23rd, 4:30-6:30
Update on MY MOTHER THE SUN and TAKE MY HAND AND WAVE GOODBYE and discuss how it feels to fall from the sky and THIS MUCH IS TRUE

Where

Online (via Zoom)

Bio

In addition to her work at PlayPenn, Michele Volansky is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University. She has worked on nearly two hundred new and established plays in her professional career and has served on the artistic staffs at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1992-95), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (1995-2000) and Philadelphia Theatre Company (2000-2004).   Volansky has also served as dramaturg for new works at Azuka Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, 1812 Productions as well as at Merrimack Rep and South Coast Rep, among others.  She has served as an artistic consultant, a reader for a host of other conferences/awards/programs and is the 1999 inaugural co-recipient of the Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy.  She is a past president of LMDA, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (2002-2004). Her book on playwriting and collaboration with Bruce Graham entitled The Collaborative Playwright was published in March, 2007 by Heinemann Press. She holds a B.A. in English from Washington College (where she served as Associate Professor of Theatre), an M.A. from Villanova University and a PhD from the University of Hull (England); her dissertation explores the politics and advocacy of the critics Kenneth Tynan and Frank Rich.

$115

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 June 25, 2020, you will be entered into a lottery to receive a session with one of PlayPenn’s hand-picked dramaturgs through Rent-a-Dramaturg (Package A). If you register for a class by the deadline, additional details will be emailed to you.

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“PlayPenn classes always get me over the hump and to a completed work.“

-2019 Student

“I walked away with an arsenal of guidelines for what makes a high-concept play, but also with half a notebook full of fantastic off-the-cuff breakthroughs and exercises.”

-Danielle B., 2019 Student

Diving into the PlayPenn Conference with Michele Volansky

 1024 681 Play Penn

In celebration of PlayPenn's 15th Anniversary New Play Development Conference, join Associate Artistic Director and Conference Dramaturg Michele Volansky in an exploration of the six extraordinary plays in our 2019 roster.

Class Description

This course will meet to discuss each of the Conference plays during their second week of public readings, teasing out thematic links and talking through the Conference season as a whole. Students will also read the starting drafts of each script, examining how the projects grow and evolve over the course of the Conference.

Dates & Times

Class: Tuesday, 7/16: 7-8pm (online)

Attend Reading: STRANGE MEN on 7/25 at 7pm

Class: Thursday, 7/25, 9-10p

Attend Reading: THE PIPER on 7/26 at 8pm

Class: Saturday, 7/27: 12:30-1:30pm

Attend Reading: INCENDIARY at 4pm and ARCHIPELAGO at 8pm on 7/27

Class: Sunday, 7/28: 11:30a-1:30pm

Attend Reading: CAVE CANEM at 2pm and WAYFINDING at 5pm on 7/28

Class: Monday, 7/29: 6-8pm (online)

 

A seat will be reserved for you at each of the Conference readings listed above.

Where

The Drake Theater, Center City Philadelphia (locations TBD) and online

Required Prep

Each student will be required to read six scripts and attend the six Conference readings (final week) as part of the course, and will have a seat reserved as part of their registration.

Bio

Michele Volansky is Chair and Associate Professor of Drama at Washington College (MD), from which she earned a B.A. in English. She has worked on nearly 200 new and established plays in her professional career, developing new works by such writers as Sam Shepard, Daniel Stern, Warren Leight, Jeffrey Hatcher, Bruce Graham, Tina Landau, Charles L. Mee and Bruce Norris, along with many others. Her work on Shepard’s rewrite of Buried Child (directed by Gary Sinise) and Dale Wasserman’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (directed by Terry Kinney and starring Gary Sinise) earned her two Broadway credits and participation in the Tony Award for Best Revival of Cuckoo’s Nest. She has guest dramaturged at the Arden Theater Company, South Coast Rep, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Victory Gardens and Next Theatre, in addition to her staff time at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1992-95), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (1995-2000) and Philadelphia Theatre Company (2000-2004). Her own play Whispering City was produced as part of the Steppenwolf Arts Exchange Program in the Fall of 1999. Since its inception, Dr. Volansky has served as Conference Dramaturg and Associate Artist for the Philadelphia-based new play development conference PlayPenn. She has served as an artistic consultant for the TCG playwright residency program, a reader for the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference and the New York Shakespeare Festival/The Joseph Papp Public Theatre’s Emerging Voices Program, as well as a grants review panelist for Philadelphia-area arts organizations. She is the 1999 inaugural co-recipient of the Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy and was the President of LMDA, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (2002-2004). Volansky’s book on playwriting and collaboration with Bruce Graham entitled The Collaborative Playwright was published in March, 2007 by Heinemann Press. She holds an M.A. from Villanova University and a PhD from the University of Hull (England); her dissertation explores the politics and advocacy of the critics Kenneth Tynan and Frank Rich.

$135

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.

Sign Up Here!

“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

New Play Dramaturgy

 1024 681 Play Penn

with Michele Volansky

PlayPenn Conference Lead Dramaturg Michele Volansky offers a class with a focus on the unique needs of new play dramaturgy.

Class Description

Join PlayPenn Conference Lead Dramaturg Michele Volansky for a class with a focus on the unique needs of new play dramaturgy. What kinds of questions to ask, how to think about structure and ways your point of view might impact the script’s development will all be covered, along with an opportunity to work on excerpts of a few new plays, and receive feedback on your approach.

Perfect for dramaturgs, directors and actors, as well as other theater artists who want to learn to use dramaturgical tools in their exploration and creation of new work.

Public Reading of YOUR New Play!

If you register for a PlayPenn class by January 14, 2018, then you can apply for the opportunity to have your unproduced full-length plays given a public, 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, PA in the spring/summer of 2018. The play many not have had a professional production. PlayPenn will cover the costs of the reading, but the student is responsible for their own housing and transportation. If you register for a class by the deadline then additional details will be emailed to you after January 14, along with a submission form.

Dates & Times

June 3, 2018  2pm-6pm (EST)

and

June 4, 2018 6-10pm (EST)

Where

Online. We will use Zoom.us. It is a very simple system. You will receive a link prior to class. You click the link and are taken to a site that has multiple boxes (like The Brady Bunch opening credits) where you can see and chat with everyone in the class. You must have a working internet connection and a computer that has both speakers (so you can hear the teaching artist) and a microphone (so they can hear you; be advised, some computer systems require you purchase a headset to use the microphone). If you would like to investigate the system before registering for the class, check out: www.zoom.us. PlayPenn covers the cost of using the system but you are expected to participate independently. We will not be recording these sessions.

Bio

Michele Volansky is Chair and Associate Professor of Drama at Washington College (MD), from which she earned a B.A. in English. She has worked on nearly 200 new and established plays in her professional career, developing new works by such writers as Sam Shepard, Daniel Stern, Warren Leight, Jeffrey Hatcher, Bruce Graham, Tina Landau, Charles L. Mee and Bruce Norris, along with many others. Her work on Shepard’s rewrite of Buried Child (directed by Gary Sinise) and Dale Wasserman’s One Flew OverThe Cuckoo’s Nest (directed by Terry Kinney and starring Gary Sinise) earned her two Broadway credits and participation in the Tony Award for Best Revival of Cuckoo’s Nest. She has guest dramaturged at the Arden Theater Company, South Coast Rep, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Victory Gardens and Next Theatre, in addition to her staff time at Actors Theatre of Louisville (1992-95), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (1995-2000) and Philadelphia Theatre Company (2000-2004). Her own play Whispering City was produced as part of the Steppenwolf Arts Exchange Program in the Fall of 1999. Since its inception, Dr. Volansky has served as Conference Dramaturg and Associate Artist for the Philadelphia-based new play development conference PlayPenn. She has served as an artistic consultant for the TCG playwright residency program, a reader for the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference and the New York Shakespeare Festival/The Joseph Papp Public Theatre’s Emerging Voices Program, as well as a grants review panelist for Philadelphia-area arts organizations. She is the 1999 inaugural co-recipient of the Elliot Hayes Award for Dramaturgy and was the President of LMDA, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (2002-2004). Volansky’s book on playwriting and collaboration with Bruce Graham entitled The Collaborative Playwright was published in March, 2007 by Heinemann Press. She holds an M.A. from Villanova University and a PhD from the University of Hull (England); her dissertation explores the politics and advocacy of the critics Kenneth Tynan and Frank Rich.

$200

Tuition

Register Here

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

 

*Students must register for a class by January 14, 2018 in order to be eligible to submit for the free spring Education reading.

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-Jane D.

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-Mark C.