Playwriting allows writers to tell stories using a unique medium–live performance. But how to leverage the opportunity so that writers harness the full power of the audience’s imagination? This class reviews the fundamentals of narrative structure, with a focus on the creation of a ten-minute play. The principles will be applied to full-length works as well. Just click your magic ruby heels together and say: “there’s no place like a theater”. The principles of narrative structure reviewed in this program can help any writer or anyone who wants to tell a story for maximum impact.

The workshop unfolds in five consecutive sessions over five weeks, beginning on Saturday morning June 23. The first session is an overview of the key elements of narrative structure. In the second session, students present an outline for a ten-minute play utilizing the key elements. In the third/fourth sessions, plays are read. Professional actors come to bring the plays to life. In fourth/fifth session, rewrites are heard. At the end of the seminar, student playwrights will have a full ten-minute play. Whatever “question” the writer is struggling with personally may reveal itself as the play is written.

More information at: https://www.indianawriters.org/products/foundations-of-playwriting