CHRISTIN EVE CATO is an award-winning playwright, dramaturg, poet, educator, lyricist, songwriter, and performing artist. She emerges from the Bronx, bringing with her a profound artistic narrative steeped in the rich tapestry of her Puerto Rican and Jamaican roots. Cato’s voice is often distinguished for her ability to create universal stories grounded in advocacy for human rights and social justice. Immersed in the pulsating heart of New York City's theatrical landscape, Cato has become an indispensable thread in the cultural fabric. She holds esteemed positions such as ensemble member and former Resident Dramaturg at Pregones/PRTT, a founding UNIT 52 ensemble member at INTAR Theatre, and a playwright in the WP Theater 2022-2024 Pipeline Lab. Additionally, she is a former Core Apprentice and current educator at the Playwrights Center, a member and affiliated playwright of The Latinx Playwrights Circle, and an associated artist with The Sol Project. Recent productions include her 2024 Obie Award-Winning play Sancocho (WP Theatre & The Latinx Playwrights Circle); The Diamond (The People’s Theatre Project @ Pregones Theatre); American Made (Samuel French OOB Festival @ Playwrights Horizons); and an audio play journey, The Mayor of Hell’s Kitchen Presents: A Time Traveling Journey Through NYC’s Wild West (The Parsnip Ship & Playwrights Horizons). Some of her other recognitions include the 2020 Greater Good Commission for Afro-Latinx writers; the 2021 ReImagine New Plays in TYA grant; the 2023 HOLA nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting; and an awardee of the 2023 Negocios Now: 40 Under 40 celebrating Latinx excellence in NYC.
INTENSIVE DESCRIPTION
One of the most powerful and often overlooked elements of playwriting is setting. In this intensive, you will focus on how the world you build shapes your characters, fuels your story, and creates the mood that keeps your audiences spellbound.
Through hands-on writing exercises, close reads, and group discussion, you’ll experiment with new ways to make your settings feel alive — as active, expressive forces in your work. You’ll also study how master playwrights use setting in their work, and reflect on how those techniques can inform your own voice.
Come ready to write, share, and stretch your imagination. By the end of this intensive, you’ll have a deeper understanding of how to craft settings that not only serve as backdrops, but become characters with their own story arcs.
This intensive is for you if you:
- Are developing a new work and want to deepen its world.
- Want to take a class focused on craft and technique.
- Are curious about world-building and how setting shapes story.
- Write in any form — plays, lyrics, poetry, nonfiction, or other creative genres.
- Are open-minded and excited to learn a new storytelling skill.
- Are interested in learning more about Christin’s work and approach to writing.
What to expect:
- Weekly sessions featuring writing exercises, readings, and lecture-style discussions.
- A focus on how setting can function as an active character in your work.
- Hands-on exploration of theatrical devices to enhance the visual dimension of your storytelling.
- Study of master playwrights and how they use setting to shape narrative and mood.
- A deeper understanding of how to craft immersive, expressive worlds that fuel your story.
- Develop your dramaturgical skills by reading and observing the new work of your peers.
- Connect and engage with fellow students and the instructor online via Zoom and email.
- Stay accountable as you produce, share, and respond to new pages each week.
- Strengthen and more clearly articulate your writing process.
Intensive Sessions:
Thursdays, March 26 through April 16
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Central Time
Take this class if you want to learn something new and expand your creative writing skills to the next level level storytelling. Take this class if you want your stories to leap off the page and immediately transport your readers.
Christin Eve Cato
