SYLLABUS

COURSE: Introduction to Playwriting

X 402.1
REG# Z0267
4/08/2013 6/17/2013
INSTRUCTOR: Laurel Ollstein
laurelollstein@gmail.com
Administrative Matters:
For refunds and other administrative matters, contact the Writers Program at:
(310) 825-9415 or at writers@uclaextension.edu.
Course Description: This course is designed to develop the writer's individual theatrical
style through the writing of scenes and a 1-act play (or work toward a full-length play).
You explore the dimensions of writing for the stage through key areas of craft, including
language, dialogue, the essentials of dramatic form, and structure. You also focus on
dramatic tension (behavior, action, and the spoken word) and character--fulfilling theme
through the depiction of characters with distinct voices and histories. This course is
designed to give the student the fundamentals of play construction and theory, using
writing techniques and exercise, and in-class feedback. The goal is to complete a one-act
play or one act of a play. The class will culminate with a final presentation of scenes,
read by actors brought in for that purpose.
Grading: Playwriting is an art form and can only be judged and evaluated with
artistic, subjective standards. Each student will grow at his own level of abilities and
talents and will be evaluated by the instructor in this manner.
Letter Grades, when desired, will be based on attendance, completion of written
assignments, participation in class, and upon degree of improvement
50% - Participation
25% - in class and homework assignments
25% - final play

REQUIREMENTS: Students will be required to write in class and read from their
writing. Writing between classes is encouraged and assignments will be given.
There will be suggested reading assignments during the course of the semester from
plays that are readily available.

Course Structure:
Each week there will be one in class writing exercise, a lecture on a certain area of
playwriting and a time to workshop the writings. There will also be suggested plays
to read during the week and writing assignments.
WEEK ONE
STRUCTURE dramatic structure and why you need to know it! What is a play?
Read - 36 Assumptions about Playwriting by Jose Rivera.
The 6 elements of Aristotle.
In class exercise 3 word dialogue
In class reading assignment: Lynette at 3am
WEEK TWO
DEVELOPING CHARACTERS everything starts with great complex characters.
Creating a Character bio
In class monologue exercise
Homework reading assignment : Hello Out There by William Saroyan
WEEK THREE
DRAMATIC ACTION Characters need to act! What is dramatic action? How to move
your plot along rising action.
In class exercise Murdering Women monologues
Homework reading assignment: Reckless by Craig Lucas
WEEK FOUR
LANGUAGE the spoken and the unspoken.
In class inciting incident scene
Homework reading Dumb Waiter Harold Pinter
WEEK FIVE
THEATRICALITY adding music, sound and lights and costumes. -- The spectacle of
theatre. How to write for stage.
In class 3 places in 2 pages.
Homework reading - Clean House Sarah Ruhl
WEEK SIX
THEMES where do ideas for plays come from -- The news, your life, and history.
The what of your play . The heart.
In class writing razor blade
Homework reading 27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Tennessee Williams
Writing Take an in class exercise or a new idea and write a scene with a beginning,
middle and end.

WEEK SEVEN
REWRITING writing is all about rewriting. The tools to take it apart and put it back
together.
Workshop scenes - notes for a rewrite.
Homework Assignment: Write!
WEEK EIGHT
PRODUCING So youve written a playnow what? Where to go? How to get people
to read it!
List of theatres and where to send and how.
Self producing
Workshop new scenes.
Homework WRITE!
WEEK NINE
Rewriting Workshop
Homework - REWRITE!
WEEK TEN
Readings of selected scenes with visiting professional actors.
A word about the workshop process:
Being able to hear your scenes read aloud and receive thoughtful feedback from
your classmates and your instructor is one of the greatest benefits to a workshop
class. But helpful critiquing is essential and an art in itself. I use a Critical Response
Process that was developed by Liz Lerman, choreographer and founder of Liz
Lerman Dance Exchange. Developed almost 15 years ago, the Process has been
embraced by artmakers, educators, and administrators at theater companies, dance
departments, orchestras, museums and more. The Process has deepened dialogue
between artists and audiences; it has enhanced learning between teachers and
students. By extension it has proven valuable for all kinds of creative endeavors,
work situations, and collaborative relationships, from kindergartens to
corporations.
A Roadmap for Meaningful Dialogue
Building on these discoveries, Liz Lerman formulated a four-step method for
facilitated group feedback, which unlike some models of critique affords the
artist an active role in the dialogue.
The Process engages participants in three roles:
The artist offers a work-in-progress for review and feels prepared to question
that work in a dialogue with other people.

Responders, committed to the artists intent to make excellent work, offer

reactions to the work in a dialogue with the artist; and
The facilitator initiates each step, keeps the process on track, and works to help
the artist and responders use the Process to frame useful questions and
responses.
The Critical Response Process takes place after a presentation of artistic work. Work
can be short or long, large or small, and at any stage in its development. The
facilitator then leads the artist and responders through four steps:
1. Statements of Meaning: Responders state what was meaningful, evocative,
interesting, exciting, striking in the work they have just witnessed.
2. Artist as Questioner: The artist asks questions about the work. After each
question, the responders answer. Responders may express opinions if they
are in direct response to the question asked and do not contain suggestions
for changes.
3. Neutral Questions: Responders ask neutral questions about the work. The
artist responds. Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion
couched in them. For example, if you are discussing the lighting of a scene,
Why was it so dark? is not a neutral question. What ideas guided your
choices about lighting? is.
4. Opinion Time: Responders state opinions, subject to permission from the
artist. The usual form is I have an opinion about ______, would you like to
hear it? The artist has the option to decline opinions for any reason.