Chicago Dramatists Announce Winter Class Schedule

Chicago Dramatists has announced its winter line up of writing courses, many of which are brand new to our curriculum. For the winter session, we are offering a 20% Partnership Discount to members of Broadway World. Use promo code PartnerWinter20 at checkout to redeem this offer. We hope you'll make use of this offer, and join us this winter in some of our warm and creative classrooms.

All Chicago Dramatist classes, led by our highly experienced and supportive faculty, are dedicated to the writer - their vision, their voice, their process. This exciting schedule includes classes designed for storytellers of all kinds, from new writers just beginning their creative journey, to seasoned dramatists dedicated to furthering their craft. Whether your interest lies in solo-storytelling, playwriting, musical theatre, or screenwriting, we have classes tailor made for you.

Chicago Dramatists has been a cornerstone of Chicago's vibrant theatre scene for over 40 years. It is the perfect place for artists of all kinds to find a dynamic home. So join in, and bring your theatrical voice to life.

 

New Classes:

Culture Bending - Jens Rasmussen

**NEW COURSE**

6 Mondays: Jan. 20 - Feb. 24

6:30pm - 9:30pm

(Literacenter)

Culture Bending is built on the belief that the stories we tell don't just reflect our culture, they shape it. Starting with interactive, intersectional, exercises, we examine our culture and our place in it. Through discussion and other collaborative practices, we mine our experiences for the stories that need to be told to change the larger "story" of our society. The goal is merely to change the world - so no pressure. We believe in you. Appropriate for solo writers, solo performers, and ensembles.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/np/clients/chicagodramatists/event.jsp?event=109&

 

So You Want To Be A Writer - Emilio Williams

**NEW COURSE**

7 Tuesdays: Jan. 21 - Mar. 3

6:30pm - 9:30pm

(Literacenter)

What does it take to have a sustainable writing practice? In this generative seminar, we open your writing potential not only to theater plays, but also to fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and hybrid practices. You will get the chance to experiment on any of these genres or simply stay on your genre of choice and see how the other genres can illuminate your own preferred practice. We will discuss how our lives experiences, readings and imagination feed our writing independently of the genre in which we work. We will also discuss practical career development tactics to distribute your writing.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/np/clients/chicagodramatists/event.jsp?event=99&

 

Crafting The Musical Theatre Song - J. Seb Fabal

**NEW COURSE**

6 Saturdays: Feb. 1 - Mar. 7

10:00am - 1:00pm

(Literacenter)

Explore the basic song forms that are the building blocks of successful musicals. This six-week workshop is designed to strengthen storytelling and songwriting fundamentals while encouraging writers to develop their original work. Writers share songs from a musical they're currently writing or create new songs based on the song forms studied each week. This workshop is for all levels of musical theatre writers and is designed to support composers, lyricists, and book writers.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/np/clients/chicagodramatists/event.jsp?event=139&

 

Writing Plays That Matter (Intensive) - Kristiana Rae Colón

**NEW COURSE**

2 Day Weekend Intensive: Feb. 8 - Feb. 9

10:00am - 4:30pm

(Literacenter)

Toni Cade Bambara tells us that the job of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible. This workshop asks participants to consider their solutions to the most urgent social concerns of our time and create dramatic interventions that provoke and inspire. Through discussion, generative writing prompts, and collective critique, writers will be invited to share works in progress and begin exploring new projects.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=114&

 

Staging Science: Writing The Science Play (Intensive) - Kristin Idaszak

**NEW COURSE**

2 Day Weekend Intensive: Feb. 15 - Feb. 16

10:00am - 4:30pm

(Literacenter)

Playwrights and scientists share a common goal: to deepen our knowledge of the universe and its mysteries. This spirit of discovery has inspired playwrights to put science and scientists onstage from Dr. Faust to present day. From the bubbling beakers of a chemistry lab to black holes in distant galaxies, writers will untap the possibilities of science in dramatic storytelling. In this playwriting intensive, writers will learn how to move beyond metaphor and use science to shape the action of their plays. Together, we will also explore why science plays are so popular today.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=119&

 

Ten Minute Play - Emilio Williams

**NEW COURSE**

7 Wednesdays: Mar. 4 - Apr. 15

6:30pm - 9:30pm

(Literacenter)

Short one-act plays are the testbeds to develop your own voice as a playwright. In this seminar, we will learn the rules of the game from some of the most brilliant ten-minutes plays ever written. And then, we'll get to play in order to follow and/or break those rules. Portions of this class will be allocated to students, allowing them time to generate and write new material during these sessions.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=129&

 

Winter Class Line Up:

Scene Shop: Thursday Sessions - Will Dunne

7 Thursdays: Jan. 16 - Mar. 19

6:30pm - 9:30pm

(Chicago Dramatists)

OR

Scene Shop: Saturday Sessions - Will Dunne

7 Saturdays: Jan. 18 - Mar. 21

10am - 1pm

(Literacenter)

Now starting its 13th year at Chicago Dramatists and led by Resident Playwright Will Dunne, author of The Dramatic Writer's Companion and other books, Scene Shop is an ongoing professional resource for experienced writers.

Self-contained weekly sessions offer character, scene, and story tools to help you write and revise your script, professional actors to read the work you bring from home, and constructive group feedback in a supportive setting. If you ever need to miss a session, you can always make it up in the other Scene Shop section that week. Workshop members are eligible to participate in the Scene Shop Showcase, a night of staged readings presented twice yearly in the Russ Tutterow Theatre. Available Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Register for Thursday at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=149&

Register for Saturday at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=154&

 

Developing A Play-In-Progress - Douglas Post

7 Wednesdays: Jan. 22 - Mar. 4

6:30pm - 9:30pm

(Literacenter)

This is a workshop for writers who want to develop a script on which they have already begun work. This may include anything from a full-length play to a one-act play to a series of short plays. The class will explore the skills and qualities of effective dramatic writing by reading and discussing the participants' scripts in a supportive and challenging environment, with the goal being to ready their plays for production.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=124&

 

Writing Comedy for the Small Screen - Mary Ruth Clarke

8 Saturdays: Jan. 25 - Mar. 21

10:00am - 1:00pm

(Literacenter)

Join the third Golden Age of Television: take "Writing Comedy for the Small Screen" and write your pilot today! This is the PERFECT course for anyone who has an idea for a great comedy or limited series and wants to learn the crucial basics of how to write it! You will study successful pilots, figure out where your idea fits in the vast TV landscape, develop comedic characters, settings, and storylines, and learn how to structure your comedy for the small screen! Most of all, you will write, write, write, as you develop your own personal concept for the small screen! Writers will leave this course with the makings of a pitch document, and a rough draft of their very own TV pilot. The opportunities in television are endless...grab your chance today.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=165&

 

The Sound & Fury Solo Show & Storytelling Development (Online) - Arlene Malinowski

8 Tuesdays: Jan. 28 - Mar. 17

(Online)

6:30pm - 9:45pm

(Literacenter)

This fast, furious, hands-on workshop is for playwrights, actors, and storytellers of all levels who want to work on the development of a one-person show or long-form narrative/story. Each week offers an opportunity to work and develop your piece with the goal being to advance to production readiness. The 8-week class offers supportive feedback, structure, and cheerleading. It is designed to serve you and your personal creative goals. You will write hard and have big fun - we promise.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=134&

 

Screenwriting for Playwrights (Intensive) - Mary Ruth Clarke

2 Day Weekend Intensive: Mar. 28 - Mar. 29

Saturday: 10:00am - 5:00pm

Sunday: 2:00pm - 5:00pm

(Literacenter)

Have a play you feel might work well as a movie? Or a story idea that you can't seem to make work as a play? This weekend workshop offers a boot camp in the nuts and bolts essentials of writing for the visual medium of film. We will deep dive into how to think and write visually, with less emphasis on pushing the story forward through dialog and more through action. We'll focus on the importance of genre, and how to unearth that great hook that causes a producer to shout, "That's a movie!" There will be ample time allotted for in-class writing assignments, as well as time to read and discuss participant's ideas, scenes, and stories. Participants will learn proper screenwriting formatting, and should come to the first session with a play that they want to adapt or an idea they want to cinematically bring to life.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=170&

 

Secret Life Of The American Musical - Cheryl Coons

6 Saturdays: Mar. 14 - Apr. 18

10am - 1pm

(Literacenter)

Led by award-winning musical theatre writer Cheryl Coons, "Musical Theatre: the Secret Life of the American Musical," guides students through the rich inner workings of the American Musical. Dedicated to providing a safe space, where students are encouraged to grow, take risks, and sow the seeds of their musical talents, students learn the craftsmanship necessary to write a full-fledged piece of their own. By studying the greats-from Gypsy, to Dear Evan Hansen, to Hamilton-students gain insight into the fundamentals of the form, and use this as a bedrock to find and foster their own unique theatrical voices. This is then coupled with ample opportunities for writers to share work-in-process, helping students discover how to fashion music and lyrics that pierce right to the heart of any audience.

Register at: https://chicagodramatists.z2systems.com/event.jsp?event=144&

 

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