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Summer 2021

Finding Your True Subject: How to Write the Plays That Only You Can Write, with Anne Marie Cammarato and John Yearley

640 433 Play Penn

This class will assist students in identifying their true subjects and celebrating what they can uniquely bring to a play.

As audiences, we have all sat though plays wondering why the playwright has chosen this particular subject to write about. As playwrights, we have all struggled to approach a subject that we want to write about but can’t find our way into. Finding Your True Subject provides the tools to unlock these subjects, striving to help each writer discover what you (and only you) can bring to a subject, whether that subject is autobiographical or not.

June 7, June 10, June 14, and June 17, 6-9pm E.S.T.

Online (via Zoom)

Anne Marie Cammarato is a playwright and director, whose plays include Hazel, Bobby James, Milk Pie, A Scar, 10 Months, and The Big Room. Her work has been developed at PlayPenn, Theatre Exile, Temple University, University of the Arts and the Resident Ensemble Players. She has worked throughout the country at theatres including Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Madison Repertory Theater, Theatre X, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, and Delaware Theatre Company, where she served as Artistic Director for six seasons. She was a finalist for the Leah Ryan Fund prize (2015) and in 2012, she was the Established Literary Fellow in Playwriting for the State of Delaware. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. She has taught at the University of Delaware and Temple University, and is currently Playwright in Residence at the University of Mississippi.

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, 8 Minutes, 20 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 currently writes for the children’s TV program Treasure Trekkers and has worked previously on PBS Kids’ Arthur and as a “script doctor” for New Line Cinema. Teaches playwriting, TV Writing, and screenwriting at Temple University, Drexel University, and the Barrow Group in New York City, as well as previously being a lead artist of the Foundry, a playwriting group in Philadelphia. Member of the Dramatists Guild, Writers Guild, and twice a MacDowell Fellow.

$225

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.

“Writing can be a lonely road. I’m thankful that Philadelphia offers the supportive, talented PlayPenn community.”

-Joe G., 2020 Participant

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 Participant

Creative Ways into Building a Character, with R. Eric Thomas

640 433 Play Penn

What makes a character memorable? How do we mold a three-dimensional person out of our ideas?

Join playwright, screenwriter, and PlayPenn Alum R. Eric Thomas on an exploration of masterfully created, specific characters, using examples from great works for stage, Eric’s own experience, in-class exercises, and more. Students will come away with more tools for fleshing out their ideas into fully realized people and activating their plays with dynamic personalities. Perfect for new or experienced playwrights!

July 17, July 18, 1-5pm E.S.T.

Online (via Zoom)

R. Eric Thomas, a national bestselling author and playwright, won the 2016 Barrymore Award for Best New Play and the 2018 Dramatist Guild Lanford Wilson Award, was a finalist for the 2017 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and is a finalist for two 2021 Lambda Literary Awards. He was a staff writer for the Peabody Award-winning series Dickinson (AppleTV+) and Better Things (FX) and has been commissioned or produced on stage by Arden Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Theatre Exile, Simpatico Theatre, Azuka Theatre, Single Carrot Theatre, About Face Theatre, City Theatre Miami, Act II Playhouse and more. He is an alumnus of The Foundry, the Lambda Literary Fellowship, and the Ingram New Works Project. Website: Rericthomas.com New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/users/892/r-eric-thomas

$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.

“Writing can be a lonely road. I’m thankful that Philadelphia offers the supportive, talented PlayPenn community.”

-Joe G., 2020 Participant

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 Participant