Dramatic Writing (DWPG-UT)

The lectures given in this program explore the nature and principles of dramatic action, the relationship between character and circumstance, and how dramatic structure arises from these foundations. In the workshop sessions, students present their work, which is then reviewed, critiqued, and rewritten. In screenwriting, this process results in an outline and the partial scripting of a full-length screenplay; in playwriting, it culminates in a 10-minute play. Students work together as a repertory company to rehearse, critique, and rewrite their plays, and on the last day of classes, they perform their plays. In addition to the performance of the 10-minute plays, student monologues are directed and acted by professional actors and directors who work with the department on a regular basis. Readings of classic plays and screenplays and screenings of movies and tapes of important theatrical productions complement the course work. Students will also have guest lecturers in TV writing and several film story analysis sessions. Taken in conjunction with DWPG-UT 16 for a combined total of 6 units.

The lectures given in this program explore the nature and principles of dramatic action, the relationship between character and circumstance, and how dramatic structure arises from these foundations. In the workshop sessions, students present their work, which is then reviewed, critiqued, and rewritten. In screenwriting, this process results in an outline and the partial scripting of a full-length screenplay; in playwriting, it culminates in a 10-minute play. Students work together as a repertory company to rehearse, critique, and rewrite their plays, and on the last day of classes, they perform their plays. In addition to the performance of the 10-minute plays, student monologues are directed and acted by professional actors and directors who work with the department on a regular basis. Readings of classic plays and screenplays and screenings of movies and tapes of important theatrical productions complement the course work. Students will also have guest lecturers in TV writing and several film story analysis sessions. Taken in conjunction with DWPG-UT 15 for a combined total of 6 units.

This class, which is open to non-majors, provides an introduction to the basic elements needed to create a dramatic (of any kind, including comedic) script. Students will examine what it means to have a protagonist, antagonist, and conflict as well as learn to resolve conflict and create a story. Writing exercises will address each of these elements culminating in the writing of a thirty-minute play or screenplay. Examples of how these elements are used in great dramatic works will be drawn from play, film, and television. The intent of this class is to provide students with the tools necessary to do further dramatic writing.

This course is an intensive, semester-long introduction to the fundamentals of dramatic writing across the mediums of theater, film and episodic/tv. Plays, screenplays and episodic episodes will be read, viewed and analyzed for form and structure with emphasis on the common elements that the three mediums of playwriting, screenwriting and episodic writing share. Students will study and become familiar with terms like dramatic action, protagonist, antagonist, story goal, objective, norm, inciting incident, crisis, climax and resolution; terms which will be used in this course and in all Dramatic Writing classes going forward.

This first year production course is the first part of a year-long course (with Drama Lab II) that is taken simultaneously with Craft. In this course, writers will wrestle with the practical and theoretical elements of seeing their work living and breathing in the hands and minds and bodies of others. Drama Lab I will focus on learning the basic skill sets of a writer's primary collaborators: actors and directors. Students will learn how both actors and directors look at a script and interpret words on a page, while acquiring the vocabulary to communicate successfully with each. Students in this class will take turns as writers, co-writers, directors and actors for each other’s pieces, with peer-to-peer feedback led by the professor. New work will be developed by pushing the boundaries of what is possible for stage and screen. As this is a collaborative class, we will discuss consent, empowering the writer, the director and the actor in the room, learning how to have a voice in all of these roles, and understanding how having a voice in the room makes students better artists. Collaborating with other artists encourages growth, builds relationships, and often builds new confidence in writing students. We will find inspiration through music and art, to create worlds that the writer may not have imagined were in their wheelhouse. This class is not only for collaboration, but also for creation and experimentation of craft.

This first year production course is the second part of a year-long course (with Drama Lab I) that is taken simultaneously with Playwriting I. In this course, writers will wrestle with the practical and theoretical elements of seeing their work living and breathing in the hands and minds and bodies of others. Drama Lab II will focus on gaining a more complex understanding of how to invite collaborators (directors, actors, producers, designers) into a student's work.

Playwriting I begins with a vigorous review of the basic principles taught in Craft as they apply to playwriting. Students will concentrate on characterization, dialogue, and structure with an emphasis on identifying the stakes, turning points, climax and resolution of the drama. The course builds to an exploration of theatricality and how the use of physical action, props, movement, sound, and light are primary to the creation of a dramatic work for the stage. Playwriting at its core is about telling a story in the moment when an audience is gathered together in the same space as the performers. The course will return again and again to the notion of theatricality and what that means.

Students will examine the fundamental components of screenplay writing and screenplay structure through writing short scripts during the semester. Produced screenplays will be analyzed for structure and form. This is a workshop class; original work will be presented to the class for analysis and discussion throughout the semester.

This text analysis class will focus on classic Greek Drama and the impact it has had on modern dramatic writing. Greek drama is touchstone, an inspiration, and a source for adaptation; and this class will draw upon original Greek plays while making connections to contemporary works.

This text analysis course is designed to impart to the modern dramatist an understanding of Shakespeare's technique and craft, providing specific examples of how it is used today by the best writers across the dramatic media of stage and screen. The class will focus on an intensive analysis of Shakespeare's plays. Various dramas from the 20-year span of Shakespeare's career will be sampled to investigate how he used structure, patterns, story, plot, character, language, meter, etc. to create works for a contemporary theater. Through discussions and written assignments, the class will expand a student's own dramatic skill set.

The focus of this class will be the writing and development of a new full-length play. To this end, students will be expected to bring in new and rewritten pages to be read and discussed in class. The play should not be one workshopped before, and students may not work on it concomitantly in another class. Each week, six students will bring in 10-15 new pages, so be prepared to have new pages read in class every other week. Since this is a writing workshop, students will be actively engaged with one another’s work and will be expected to participate in feedback sessions.

This elective writing class focuses on a single area of study within screenwriting. A masterclass requires the writing of a full-length work, and is equivalent in workload to an advanced level writing class.

This elective writing class focuses on a single area of study within playwriting. A masterclass requires the writing of a full-length work, and is equivalent in workload to an advanced level writing class.

Students will take what they've learned in Playwriting I and apply it to developing and writing an original, full-length play. Students will review the fundamental components of playwriting while exploring specific elements of scene, character, dialogue, theme, etc. that apply to full-length playwriting. While traditional playwriting models will be embraced, alternative narrative modes and avant-garde structures will also be introduced. This is a workshop class; students will present their work to the class for analysis and discussion throughout the semester.

Students will write a “spec” episode of an existing series.. They will learn how to write a script for both the half-hour and hour-long format, going from premise line to outline to a fully executed draft. The purpose of this class is to understand how a series functions and how writing the episodic form differs from other dramatic forms.

Students will take what they've learned in Screenwriting I and apply it to developing and writing an original, full-length screenplay. Students will review the fundamental components of screenplay writing and structure while exploring specific elements of scene, character, dialogue, theme, etc. that apply to feature screenplay writing. This is a workshop class; work will be presented to the class for analysis and discussion throughout the semester.

This elective writing class focuses on a single area of study within episodic series writing. A masterclass requires the writing of a full-length work, and is equivalent in workload to an advanced level writing class.

Students will write an original pilot. In the lecture component of the class, emphasis will be placed on both pilots and the series that emerge from those pilots. Students will be encouraged to think about the arena of the show, the story engine of the series and character goals both in the pilot itself and across a series.The purpose of this class is for students to take their first venture into writing generative work in the episodic form.

This is an advanced class for students who are serious about developing their playwriting skills. Initial class sessions will be devoted to a series of writing exercises to generate ideas, play with content, experiment with structure, and discover what and how students most want to write this semester. This class is about risk and experimentation. Students may begin something and throw it out; they should strive to build a play that excites them and feels truthful and vital.

The Rehearsal Process is a production class in which student playwrights engage with professional directors and actors on a script-workshopping process. Playwrights will work on previously written scripts. The purpose of this class to re-think, re-imagine, re-work, and rewrite existing material; and to discover how to use rehearsal time to further those processes.

Students will build on their experience of writing a full-length screenplay in Screenwriting II and repeat the process with a higher expectation for a completed screenplay. They will also be expected to write faster, and end the semester with a rewritten draft of their original screenplay. Students will review the fundamental components of screenplay writing and structure while exploring specific elements of scene, character, dialogue, theme, etc. that apply to feature screenplay writing. This is a workshop class; work will be presented to the class for analysis and discussion throughout the semester.

Writing the full length screenplay or play, based on fact and fiction. Basic dramatic writing skills such as choosing a compelling story, creating complex characters, vital dialogue, structuring the plot, avoiding overwriting and underwriting, location, endings, and rewriting will be the focus of the course. The goal of the course will be a full length script for film or stage.

The Playwriting Capstone project is a full-length play; students are required to come into this class with a draft of the play, preferably one developed in Advanced Playwriting, that they will work on and complete over the course of the semester. Capstone classes incorporate complete readings of all student works-in-progress to learn about the development process and experience it first-hand.

The Screenwriting Capstone project is a full-length screenplay; students are required to come into this class with a draft of the screenplay, preferably one developed in Advanced Screenwriting, that they will rewrite and complete over the course of the semester.

Students will take what they have learned in the previous classes, placing special emphasis on how a pilot generates long-form story and long-term character development, and write a pilot that incorporates all of these elements. They may have the option, at the instructor’s discretion, of writing a later episode of the same series. The goal of this class is for the student to incorporate all they have learned about story generation as well as long-form story and character development into an original work that shows mastery of the form.

This elective writing class focuses on a single area of study across mediums. A masterclass requires the writing of a full-length work, and is equivalent in workload to an advanced level writing class.

This elective writing class focuses on an area of study within the mediums of playwriting, screenwriting, and/or episodic series writing. In addition to writing assignments, students will also focus on text analysis, production and/or performance. A writing workshop does not require completion of a full-length work.

This text analysis course is an introductory lecture class taken simultaneously with Craft in which students are exposed to the specific kinds of dramatic writing used across the media of theater, film and episodic/tv -- e.g., tragedy, farce, thriller, melodrama, etc. Students will learn the typical behavior and structures expressed in each of these forms. This course will use examples from theater, film and television to illustrate what makes dramatic writing work.

This text analysis course is designed to provide a platform for an in-depth study of how the story of a film is presented, what choices are made by the author, how information is offered or withheld and what effect this has on the drama. This class will be an “anthology” of different works, each selected for a different aspect of storytelling, exploring how the stylistic choices, themes, and dramatic devices reveal themselves within the body of work. The course is designed to better help students organize their own narratives by analyzing the techniques employed by various screenwriters in constructing their screenplays. A selection of films will be screened and discussed in terms of continuity of theme; delineation of plot, development of structure, protagonist’s story purpose, dialogue as action and character. After each screening, the instructor will lead a group discussion and analysis of the film, focusing further on the techniques, conventions and devices employed by the screenwriter to both tell a good story and satisfy the demands of the audience.

This text analysis course is an introductory lecture class taken simultaneously with Playwriting I. This course surveys dramatic literature from Ancient Greece to modern times, with emphasis on the changing conventions, forms, techniques and styles of playwriting. Plays will be read for content and analysis.

This text analysis course is an introductory lecture class taken simultaneously with Screenwriting I. This course surveys movies from early silent films to movies of today. It will focus on a broad spectrum of the different styles, genres and types of narrative films. The course will survey studio films and independent films, American films and international films. Movies will be screened and screenplays will be read and analyzed for story, structure, character and history.

This text analysis course is an introductory lecture class taken simultaneously with Episodic/TV Writing I. This course surveys post WWII television up to the episodic series of present day across TV, streaming services and beyond. It will focus on a broad spectrum of the different styles, modes and types of episodic programming, including dramatic, comedic and everything in between. Shows will be screened and scripts will be read and analyzed for story, structure, character and history.

This text analysis course is designed to provide a platform for an in-depth study of how the story of a show is presented, what choices are made by the author, how information is offered or withheld and what effect this has on the drama. This class will be an “anthology” of different works, each selected for a different aspect of storytelling, exploring how the stylistic choices, themes, and dramatic devices reveal themselves within the body of work. This class examines the history and evolution of television/episodic, from the early days up to the present, with an eye toward how storytelling has changed and evolved. Various genres and shows will be viewed and discussed as we not only analyze the unique episodic universe but also connect what was going on in television to the larger currents of American culture and history, and see what lessons there might be for people who plan to work in episodic now.

This text analysis course is designed to provide a platform for an in-depth study of how the story of a play is presented. This class will be an “anthology” of different works, each selected for a different aspect of storytelling, or it will center around a single playwright’s (or group of playwrights’) work, exploring how the stylistic choices, themes, and dramatic devices reveal themselves within the body of work. The course is designed to better help students organize their own narratives by analyzing the techniques employed by various playwrights in constructing their plays.

The television scene is the essential building material of dramatic TV writing. But just as cinematic scenes differ from theatrical ones (in their length, the way they are shaped…), so episodic television demands a specific set of scene-writing skills. This course will specifically address those needs – how to write a teaser or an act break, for example. It will address questions like how to write the final scene in an episode so that the episode comes to a conclusion while the dramatic momentum of the show continues. We’ll target the specific nature of writing conflict scenes between two regular characters (the most important scenes in episodic television). But we’ll also examine such issues as: writing scenes involving both regular and guest cast members; writing within the “voice” of a show; and how to write a scene displaying incremental character development (the greatest differential between episodic TV, and all other forms of dramatic scene writing). This course is particularly well suited to summer because students will have a significant opportunity to rewrite and transform their scenes.

Students will come into this class with a pilot they have already written. They will rewrite that pilot and create a “series document” that demonstrates the tone and rationale of the series, a detailed description of the remainder of the first season, and a less detailed description of following seasons. The purpose of this class is to teach long-term story and character development and learn how a pilot serves as a “story engine.”

The Rehearsal Process is a production class in which student playwrights engage with professional directors and actors on a script-workshopping process. Playwrights will work on previously written scripts. The purpose of this class to re-think, re-imagine, re-work, and rewrite existing material; and to discover how to use rehearsal time to further those processes.

Students experience the profession of the dramatist from “the other side of the desk” by working in a professional organization that develops and or produces the work of dramatists. Minor assignments required. Seek assistance for an internship with TOCD or Kanbar Internship Coordinator. DW Students are required to complete at least 3 credits of internship. 1 credit = approximately 50 hours worked over the course of the semester.

This is a discussion-based class that bridges academic life to a student's future professional career in theater, film and episodic writing. This class is designed to help students build the skills, obtain the tools, and uncover the questions to ask in order to enter the lifelong practice of living (and thriving) as a professional writer. Discussion topics will include: creating necessary application materials, self-producing, networking techniques and tools, self-advocacy, supplemental income jobs, financial literacy, working in multiple mediums, scheduling and time management, how to find artistic homes and collaborators, how and when to pursue representation, the distinction between agents and managers, and presenting oneself as a multi-hyphenate artist. The keystone of the class is frequent guest speakers who've built successful and varied careers within the industry, along with assignments designed to deepen each student's curiosity, personal career objectives, and competitive edge in these constantly adapting fields. Students should take this course in their junior year.

Independent Studies may not replace required course work. To request an Independent Study, students must complete an Application for Independent Study and write a Plan for Independent Study that must be approved by the supervising faculty member and the chair. Supervising faculty must be a full-time faculty member (please see the Application for a complete list.) Applications are available from the Academic Administrator. Approvals are based upon the student’s ability to work independently and on the student’s academic record.

This is a production workshop for playwrights, led by The Public Theater’s Master Writer and Arts Professor Suzan-Lori Parks. Each week playwrights present bare-bones staged readings, excerpts of their previously written work. Writers are paired off, with one writer serving as “playwright” and the other as “director.” Working with professional actors, students will strengthen their writing chops by getting work on its feet for class discussion and feedback. “Playwright” and “Director” pairings change weekly, giving each writer multiple opportunities to explore the possibilities of their own written work. Students must have previously written dramatic material that’s ready for production-workshop. Each playwright will commit to working on ONE of their plays for the entire semester.

The Steinberg Theater Workshop is a production class in which student playwrights engage with professional directors and actors on a script-workshopping process. Playwrights will work on previously written scripts. The purpose of this class to re-think, re-imagine, re-work, and rewrite existing material; and to discover how to use rehearsal time to further those processes.

This text analysis course examines the essential elements of storytelling through the analysis of comedy in theater, film, television and beyond. It will focus on comedic works in all mediums of comedy starting with Aristophanes then moving away from him as quickly as possible. The class will demonstrate how comedy is a living, evolving thing that reflects where we are as people and tells the truth. Popular culture is always telling us something; even when it doesn’t know it’s telling us something. From satire to sketch and stand-up, the course will explore how jokes can chip away at entrenched ideas and create community. Examples of readings and viewings will be analyzed for character, story, plot, structure, theme and technique.

Through a combination of lectures, screenings, field trips, and creative workshops, Writing the Short Script will deepen students' understanding of screenwriting and dramatic craft as they learn how to effectively tell a compelling, dramatic, self-contained film story. Students will learn to structure a screenplay, create compelling characters that develop externally and internally, build a chain of causality on the level of story and scene and improve their visual storytelling as they work toward the completion of several short scripts. Each script must reflect the student's personal experience of being in Berlin, whether in a literal or figurative sense. Students will also be required to film and screen a dramatic scene using materials at hand (e.g., cell phones). A public reading of selected short scripts will be held at the end of the semester.