INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO PLAYWRITING

An Artist residency at Thunder Mountain High School, Global Learning Academy

 

WriteOn is a nine-week playwriting program for the high school students at Thunder Mountain High School consisting of six weeks of classroom study with Perseverance teaching artists, private writing, instructor and peer feedback, rewriting, as well as attendance at a Perseverance Theatre Mainstage production.

Students study, write, revise and workshop short plays. Classroom work consists of reading, discussing and analyzing excerpts from classical and contemporary pieces and performing exercises on learning how to write plays. Instructors will provide ongoing feedback and form peer revision groups as students work to share ideas on plot, character, through-line and structure. During the first week of the program students will attend special matinee performances of a Perseverance Mainstage production, followed by classroom discussions about the play.

Students learn valuable tools for playwriting, which will be easily transferred to other writing assignments. These tools include sentence and story structure, setting, character building, point of view and voice, themes, dialogue and stage directions. Students also learn editing techniques through instructor feedback and draft revision. At the culmination of classroom work, classes will read plays aloud and choose two from each class to be rehearsed and performed by Perseverance company directors and actors during our Spring Festival, which showcases new work by emerging voices.

 

WriteOn develops a community of future artists and audience members among the students it touches.  It also invites their families and friends - from communities throughout the Juneau area - to become a part of the movement that is Perseverance Theatre.

 

For more information contact Shona Strauser at 907-364-2421 ext 232.