Lynn Nottage is one of our greatest and most-produced living playwrights. Sweat (for which she won her second Pulitzer Prize) builds on the great American theatrical genre of what I'll call the "tragic ensemble dive bar play," in the tradition of O'Neill and Lanford Wilson and others. However, where O'Neill's bottomed-out drunks navigate existential sorrow, Sweat adds a layer of complex social and political tension which is both contemporary and timeless. Can we osmose some of Nottage's brilliant dramaturgical construction? Let's find out.
In my monthly playwriting seminar, we take a look at a different contemporary play each four-week session, discussing its craft and using it as inspiration for a number of writing exercises. At the end of each month, we workshop a short selection of material from each playwright.
Saturdays, July 20–Aug 17 (no class 8/10); 10am-12pm Pacific Time/1-3pm Eastern Time (The final, workshop session may run until 3:30pm and is recorded for students’ personal use)
Maximum enrollment is 10, and students in the prior session get first refusal for their spot. Minimum enrollment to run the session is 4.
Tuition for one session is $175. For $450 you can get credit for three sessions (they do not need to be contiguous).