“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” – Oscar Wilde
Playwrights have the enormous joy and responsibility of writing a blueprint: the origin of what will become a collaboration between actors, directors, and designers. Their words need to exude so much life that the average reader may imagine the final product, fully formed. Playwriting is where architecture and alchemy meet.
In this ten-week workshop course, we will build a supportive writer’s room focused on the generation of a well-structured full length play, running between 75 & 90 minutes. Early sessions will focus on outlining the plot as well as close readings of professional scripts. There will be guided, generative exercises and group workshopping of preliminary scenes written by the participants. There will be no meetings in the month of July in order to give students time to work and enjoy one-on-one conversations about their progress with Elizabeth. The group will congregate again in August and September, and each subsequent class will be dedicated to a table reading and workshopping of one play. Actors and classmates will share their feedback and insights on each script. No prior playwriting experience is required, but this rewarding class will require both courage and commitment.
Elizabeth A. M. Keel is a Houstonian playwright, director, actress, dramaturg, producer, screenwriter, and novelist. Her plays have been read, commissioned and/or produced by The Alley Theatre, Flexible Grey, Fresh Produce’d (NYC), Haven Arts Theatre, Houston Contemporary Dance Company, Shattered Globe Theatre, Stages, The Studio Theatre at Tierra Del Sol, T.E.T.A., This Is Water Theatre, Tokyo International Players, Voxfest, and Wordsmyth, among others. Some of her plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Stage Partners. She currently works as a teaching artist for Grackle & Grackle, Stages, Kinder HSPVA, and the Alley. Elizabeth serves as the Resident Playwright for Mildred’s Umbrella, and is a member of the Rec Room Writers Group. She is also a double alumna of University of Houston’s School of Theatre & Dance. Upcoming projects can be found at www.elizabethamkeel.com.