THE BLANK THEATRE
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ACADEMY
#YPA Summer 2020
Welcome to the inaugural class of The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Academy! For many years, we wanted to create a platform for young writers to be able to expand their skills in a professional environment with small class sizes. We are delighted to launch this exciting extension of our premiere national Young Playwrights Festival program to promote and nurture new artistic voices.
THE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ACADEMY MISSION
For three decades, The Blank Theatre has showcased the unique voices of talented writers ages 19 and younger. Our Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival is the premiere venue for young people to share their original stories. As part of the YPF prize, we give winning playwrights world-class mentorship opportunities.
We are thrilled to now offer that kind of education and mentorship to others through our new Young Playwrights Academy. The Young Playwrights Academy experience creates a safe and nurturing atmosphere to empower young people to enhance their creative perspectives and enrich their writing.
We believe artistic education must focus on eventually working in the professional world and, therefore, YPA offers hands-on practical learning to our students. We believe this kind of experience should be open to all, and for nearly 30 years, we have offered a rich, equitable, and inclusive atmosphere. We’ve supported and educated a diverse group of young playwrights, offering a “professional” opportunity to them when they were just teenagers.
Past beneficiaries include Tony Award winning playwright Stephen Karam, Doris Duke Artist Award winner Lauren Yee, NY Drama Desk nominee Ada Cochran, TV Show creator/show runners Kit Steinkellner, Austin Winsberg, and cross-disciplinary writer Delali Ayivor among hundreds of others.
MEET YPA INSTRUCTOR BETH BIGLER
Classes will be taught by Beth Bigler, a versatile and creative writer, development executive, dramaturg, and teacher.
Beth is a dynamic, engaging, and caring arts educator and is an instructor in the producing and screenwriting departments at New York Film Academy’s Los Angeles and New York campuses. There, she teaches courses in dramatic writing, producing, and serves as a thesis reader for BFA and MFA students. She has taught elementary, middle, high school, and college students at a variety of institutions with diverse populations including the University of Illinois-Chicago, Interlochen Center For The Arts, Goddard College, and The Sakhumzi Children’s Centre in Mfuleni, South Africa.
As a sought-after dramaturg and script consultant, Beth collaborates with authors of all ages and developmental levels on their scripted and unscripted projects to help shape their projects for stage and screen. A proud graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (BFA), Beth also holds an MFA in dramatic writing from Goddard College. Beth’s stage plays have been produced in New York and Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in FreezeRay, Mead: The Magazine of Literature and Libations, Cheek Teeth, Enizagam, and elsewhere. Her work has been honored by numerous awards and nominations including Scholastic, L.A. Weekly, YoungArts, The Dunes Review, and the NAACP Image Awards.
Beth is a three-time winner of The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival and continues her work with The Blank as a dramaturg for The Living Room Series, Young Playwrights Festival Selection Committee member, and mentor for winning writers of the Young Playwrights Festival. She also serves on the Board of Directors for The Blank Theatre.
Beth has held positions at Lionsgate, Machete Productions, True Entertainment/Endemol, Sony Pictures Entertainment, CBS, and ABC. She has extensive experience developing, casting, writing, and selling projects for broadcast, cable, and digital networks. As a development consultant, she has shepherded series for numerous clients, including Fremantle Media, Magical Elves, Relativity Media, and Carnival Cruise Lines. Career highlights include Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Discovery’s Wreckreation Nation, A&E’s Very Superstitious With George Lopez, CNBC’s Back In The Game, Logo’s The A-List, Discovery Science’s Catch It, Keep It.
For more information
please contact the YPA Team:
YPA@theblank.com
YPA COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
RAISE YOUR VOICE: WRITING FOR THE STAGE
Fee: US$349
July 20th-August 16th (live classes via Zoom)
Section 1: 7th-9th grade
Tues/Fri 10am-11amPST/1pm-2pmEST
Section 2: 10th-12th grade
Tues/Fri 11:30am-12:30PST/2:30-3:30EST
Have you always wanted to write a play but didn’t know where to begin? Do you have a story you want to tell but don’t know how to make it a play? This fun, interactive, and personalized class will teach you the fundamentals of writing for the stage and show you how to use the power of your unique voice to tell your story.
We’ll use games, exercises, readings, and discussion to understand the principles of drama, including character, action, theatricality, and dialogue so you emerge from the class confident about your ability to write a play that engages and delights audiences. At the end of the class, your completed short play will be brought to life in a reading with professional actors!
There will be eight 60-minute working class meetings and one showcase class (on either August 15th or 16th), where writers will see their plays performed by professional actors.
REFINE YOUR VOICE: ADVANCED WRITING FOR THE STAGE
Fee: US$449
Dates: July 20th-August 16th (live classes via Zoom)
Section 1: 10th-12th grade
Tues/Fri 1pm-2:30PST 4-5:30PST
Get ready to expand your craft as you develop and workshop your material in a supportive, collaborative environment with other writers who are serious about their work. In this energizing workshop designed for intermediate to advanced students, you’ll take a deeper dive into the key elements of writing for theatre and gain fresh, critical insight into your play writing.
Your toolbox of fundamentals will expand as we delve into further exploration of structure, character, genre, style, theme, and voice. We’ll examine ways to move your audiences and take them where you want them to go. Through exercises, discussion, readings, and workshop, you’ll discover impactful and meaningful ways to write for the stage.
There will be eight 90 minute working class meetings and one showcase class (on either August 15th or 16th), where writers will see their plays performed by professional actors.
Admission to this class is by approval only. Past Young Playwrights Festival winners will enjoy automatic admission. All others interested in participating in the advanced class must submit a ten-page writing sample. The writing sample should be a play or portion of a play on any topic from any time period. Writing samples will be evaluated for their potential to craft character, write dialogue, and create story structure.
MASTER CLASS OPPORTUNITY
All classes will meet for a shared master class which will include a presentation and question and answer session with a professional working writer.
REGISTER NOW!
The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Academy will continue our long tradition of helping future writers and artists to change the world.
Registration is NOW OPEN!
We’re excited for you to be part of the inaugural class of our YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ACADEMY!
For more information and to inquire about scholarship opportunities, please email us at producer@theblank.com.