ONLINE WRITING INTENSIVE: Writing the Big Damn Play

Join the waitlist here

INTENSIVE DESCRIPTION

This intensive is designed for playwrights ready to develop bold, large-scale projects that resonate with audiences everywhere. Drawing on his experience as Co-Founder of the Black Lives, Black Words International Project and his collaborations with theater companies around the world, Reginald has created this course to guide you in crafting plays that are thematically expansive, culturally inclusive, and universally impactful. Together, you’ll explore what it takes to write the big, epic play—embracing large casts, sweeping spectacle, and high-stakes storytelling—while pushing the boundaries of theatricality. You’ll learn how to build rich, imaginative worlds and discover how to balance ambitious ideas with production realities, including a practical session on staging epic work on a low budget. Throughout the intensive, you’ll focus on sustaining your play’s core dramatic question, ensuring that substance and emotional truth remain at the heart of your story. Whether you’re working on a sweeping political allegory, a multi-generational family saga, or an epic historical drama, this course will help you shape your boldest ideas into a compelling, producible work for the stage.

This intensive is for you if you:

• Are dreaming up a bold, large-scale play and want help making it real.
• Are excited to explore theatrical storytelling that embraces spectacle, complexity, and emotional depth.
• Want to write plays that are culturally inclusive and resonate with audiences across different backgrounds.
• Are interested in writing for large casts, multi-generational timelines, or expansive historical or political settings.
• Have big ideas but need strategies for making them producible—no matter the budget.
• Are looking to build confidence in writing ambitious work without sacrificing clarity or heart.
• Are interested in learning more about Reginald’s work and approach to writing.

What to expect:

• Practical tools for writing epic plays with large casts, layered narratives, and emotional depth.
• Strategies for balancing bold ideas with real-world production constraints, including low-budget staging solutions.
• Weekly writing exercises to develop characters, build worlds, and generate key scenes.
• Exposure to influential plays and playwrights who model ambitious, transformative storytelling.
• A clear path toward completing a full-length draft or detailed outline of your play
• 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:

Wednesdays, March 11 through May 13

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Central Time