THE BLANK THEATRE
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ACADEMY
#YPA Fall 2020
Welcome to The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Academy Fall 2020!
For many years, we wanted to create a platform for young writers to expand their skills in a professional environment, with small class sizes, to enhance what they already know. We are excited to launch this exciting extension of our premiere national Young Playwrights Festival program, which just completed its 28th year, to offer classes that provide professional development for new artistic voices.
YPA COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
All classes run October 12 – December 13
**No classes the week of 11/23 (Thanksgiving Break)
Each course will enjoy:
- 8 class sessions
- 1 Master Class led by a working writer
- Performance Showcases of each student’s work (Dec 12th or 13th)
- Classes are live via zoom and available to students across the nation!
RAISE YOUR VOICE: WRITING FOR THE STAGE ($449)
- MIDDLE SCHOOL SECTION (6th– 8th grades) – Mondays – 4pm – 530pm PST
- HIGH SCHOOL SECTION (9th-12th grades– Thursdays – 4pm to 530 pm PST
Have you always wanted to write a play but don’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 90-minute working class meetings, one master class, and one showcase class where writers will see their plays performed by professional actors.
REFINE YOUR VOICE: ADVANCED WRITING FOR THE STAGE ($449)
HIGH SCHOOL SECTION (9th-12th grades)– Wednesdays – 4pm to 530pm PST
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 playwriting. Your toolbox of fundamentals will expand as we delve into further exploration of structure, character, genre, style, theme, and voice. We’ll explore 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, one master class, and one showcase class 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.
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 Fall 2020 class of our YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ACADEMY!
To inquire about scholarship opportunities, please email us at producer@theblank.com.
For more information please email the YPA Team: YPA@theblank.com
THE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ACADEMY MISSION
For almost three decades, The Blank Theatre 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 YPA 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 support and educate a diverse group of young playwrights, offering a “professional” opportunity. Past participants 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, Oahn Ly 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. She 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.
Classes are available to students of varying ages and skill levels and are open to students from anywhere in the United States. Some scholarship opportunities are available.
For more information
please contact the YPA Team:
YPA@theblank.com