THEA 400
Playwriting I
4 Undergraduate credits
Effective
August 24, 2002
– Present
Graduation requirements this course fulfills
Writing for the spoken word and for acting demands different skills than writing for the page. Develop your ear, your signature of voice, your sense of subtext. Through a variety of approaches, from improvisation to creative autobiography, students explore character, conflict and drama as metaphor. Writers with material they would like to explore or adapt for the stage are welcome. Expect to complete at least one short play.
Learning outcomes
General
- Construct a unified argument expressed in spectacle, sound, movement and metaphor, which supports the playwright's vision.
- Develop theme which is expressive of the individual's point of view, and extends to the human condition.
- Draft, re-write and complete, within the constructs of the class, one final draft of a 10-30 minute play, in standard format for submission.
- Understand at a fundamental level, the creative and established process of developing work for the stage.
- Understand the unique possibilities as well as the limits of writing for the live theater stage.