Throughout the majority of American theater history, white artists have represented Black and other marginalized identities onstage/screen with varyingly nauseating degrees of racial bias, while whiteness itself has been left mostly unexamined. Now, diverse writers are leading many breakthroughs in the American theater, among which is a lens on whiteness that is unsettling in a unique way. Larissa FastHorse's Thanksgiving Play (one of the most-produced plays in the country) and Young Jean Lee's Straight White Men exemplify this technique, among others. We'll discuss the dramatic construction of satire (if that's what this is) and commentary, and discover how to tell a story when the true protagonist, perhaps, is never seen onstage.
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, Aug 24–Sep 21 (no class 8/31); 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.
Tuition for one session is $175. For $450 you can get credit for three sessions (they do not need to be contiguous).