THEA299 - A Playwright's Workshop--Great Experiments in Theater

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Academic Year 2000/2001

A Playwright's Workshop--Great Experiments in Theater
THEA 299 FA

Crosslistings:
ENGL 174

While the course will cover the fundamentals of playwriting, the emphasis is on the students' own work. Published plays will be read and discussed in order to illustrate certain points, but the majority of the time will be spent doing writing exercises, reading each others' work aloud in class and responding to it, discussing specific concerns, interests or problems the students may be confronting in their writing, and experimenting with different directions and solutions. By the end of the course, each student will have written a play, which will be presented to the public as a rehearsed reading.

MAJOR READINGS

We will read a few contemporary scripts to observe the way other playwrights have directed their own experiences, memories, fantasies, and worldviews toward the dramatic moments which support every play.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Open-ended playwriting exercises--designed to facilitate the discovery of dramatic material--will form the bulk of the work.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Essential aspects of dramatic writing--plot exposition, pacing, one act vs. full length, the importance of stage action--will be discussed and technical problems inherent in the dramatic form will be considered. A workshop atmosphere will prevail so that students can engage in the kind of collaborative approach to problem solving which all dramatic writing requires. Two individual conferences with the instructor will be scheduled as part of the workshop. Students will be asked to concentrate on on e project for most of the semester--a project they are already at work on or one they discover for themselves in the workshop.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: NONE Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): STAFF

Times: ..T.... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: TST101

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 12)

SR. major: Jr. major:

SR. non-major: Jr. non-major: SO: FR:

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Writing

Permission: Permission of Instructor Required

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001