Playwriting for Beginners: Get Your Acts Together! • Course 77
24 October & 28 November 2010 @ Housmans Bookshop, London N1, UK
WORKSHOP VENUE
Housmans Bookshop
5 Caledonian Road
London N1 9DX
Date: Sunday, 24 October & Sunday, 28 November 2010
Time: 10.30AM - 4.30PM
Length: 2 days
Tube: Kings Cross
Tutor: David Wilson
Cost: £86
HAVE you ever wanted to write a play, but don't know where to start? Do you have ideas for characters, but no play to put them in? Do you go to the theatre and think, "I could do better than that"? If so, here's your opportunity to get your Acts together. This two-day course for beginners covers the fundamentals of playwriting. Sessions will include:
• techniques for developing a play
• developing believable, 3-D characters
• advice on writing dialogue and scene setting
• advice on plot and sub-plot
• a chance to create new work during the sessions
• workshopping scenes you have created as homework
• the opportunity to have writing read and discussed
This course will run on two Sundays, a month apart, to give students the confidence to begin writing a play. There will be 5 hours of tuition on each day of the course. The workshop will be conducted in a friendly, constructive atmosphere and is open to beginners only.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Paper (bound notebook preferably), pen & a spare, clipboard
DROP-IN SESSION
It is preferable to attend the whole course, but if that is not possible, you can book as a drop-in participant at £43 for the day. As places are limited, preference will be given to those who book for both days. To ensure your place, fees must be paid by 15 October.
PRIVATE TUITION
If you would like individual help with your script, private tuition can be arranged at a cost of £40 per hour/£20 per half hour. It will be up to the student to provide the paginated hard copy for editing. This is preferable to receiving text in email attachments and is less expensive because of the additional cost involved in printing your script. As editorial work is labour intensive, editing pages in preparation for a tutorial are chargeable. To arrange a session, click here to email or ring 07951 579 064.
ABOUT THE TUTOR
David Wilson has taught at the City Lit and has over twenty years of teaching experience. He was producer of the BBC Arena film, Croatia, The Artists' War. His plays have been performed on the London Fringe (Simple Writings,1989),and he has had readings of The Old Master at the Lyric Hammersmith and the Old Red Lion. His play about Dylan Thomas Spitting Into the Sky, written in collaboration wth Anne Aylor, was showcased in 2004 at the Dylan Thomas Festival, Swansea. In 2005, he gave a lecture with a rehearsed reading of his play, The Fruits of War, at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture at the invitation of the Hampstead Authors' Society. In 2009 he co-wrote with Anne Aylor The Trainer, a play for Gaza performed in conjunction with Caryl Churchill's Seven Jewish Children. The Trainer had readings at Oxford House and the Hackney Empire with a cast including Tim Pigott-Smith, Corin Redgrave, Roger Lloyd Pack and Janie Dee. For Guy Smallman's slideshow of The Trainer, click here.
He was one of the founders of the aid organisation, War Child, and first Director of the Pavarotti Music Centre, Mostar, Bosnia. He was Press Officer for several years at Stop the War Coalition. David freelances as an editor of plays and non-fiction. Simple Writings has been translated into several European languages.
Listen here to But He's Nice - an earlier incarnatiion of the play about Dylan Thomas - recorded in Wales in 2004 and featuring Sion Probert as Dylan Thomas, Liz Morgan as Caitlin Thomas, Peter Tate as Groucho Marx, Johnny Tudor as Chico Marx, Stan Stennett as David Thomas & Captain Cat, Olwen Rees as Flo Thomas, Anna Gilbert as Liz Reitell. In 2005 with its new title, Spitting Into the Sky, the play was performed at the Dylan Thomas Festival in Swansea.
WHAT STUDENTS HAVE SAID . . .
“I just loved this beginners' course for playwriting. It was interactive and thought-provoking, refreshing and entertaining. David was very supportive and constructively critical. It has inspired me to write with a passion and a purpose. Try it and you’ll feel as liberated as I do.” Carole Vincent, Big Brother 8
“A rocket-launching playwriting course to help you get your babies to walk and talk (literary variety).” Chrissie Vaughan
“Playwriting for Beginners had really focused, helpful exercises to get the creative juices flowing and great tips on how to write with passion, focus and impact." Julian Beckedahl
“Inspiring and really interesting. The 'Playwriting for Beginners' course has made me start writing again.” Caroline Ross
“David is a warm, friendly, enthusiastic, inspiring and dedicated playwriting mentor who gives great teaching and advice.” Jethro Bor
TO BOOK
By post: Enrolment will be confirmed on receipt of your £43 deposit. Payment in full is due by 15 October. Download a postal booking form to complete and be returned with your cheque. Bank transfer: To book by bank transfer, ring 020 7263 0669 for account details. Online: To use your credit or debit card, you will need to pay the full amount. Course fee: £86. For Terms & Conditions, click here.
Click for a printable 2-page brochure < Back to Course Dates
