Class Type: Playwriting Craft                         Class Level: All Experience Levels Welcome

When: Thursdays, April 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th from 6 pm - 8 pm CST

(4pm PST, 5pm MST, 7pm EST)

Where: Online via Zoom, check out this quick video on the process.

Structure: Lecture, discussion, writing prompts and exercises, freewriting, and outside class assignments

Participants must register to join this class, Sign Up at the bottom of the page. 

"The Lead Artist, Director, and/or Writer's job is to create the ultimate creative space for their collaborators. Only then will we truly be able to build something together." 

      —Olivia Lilley

DESCRIPTION

In this class, you will explore the role of the playwright in devising processes. Through lecture and discussion, you will break down the instructor's specific artistic process, which combines new play development and devising methods. This class will provide you with tools for empowering yourself, actors, and designers with a significant voice in the collaboration process of developing a script. You will be introduced to topics such as:

• Co-creating characters with actors
• Rights and royalties agreements
• Collective agreements
• Ladders of accountability
• How to use improvisation
• Generative exercises in virtual and in-person rehearsal rooms

This is the class for you if you:

• Want to know more about what devising is and what it can be
• Are interested in giving Actors more of a voice in your play and the roles they will embody 
• Are curious to know more about how multidisciplinary practices can be used to develop a play

Important Things to Note:

• There are 4 scheduled sessions
• Payment plans are available as needed, please contact Alayna to discuss

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Olivia Lilley is a playwright, director, filmmaker, teacher, and producer who came up in Chicago's DIY scene. She uses a devised process to create and develop her plays that she's been honing since 2013. Olivia's work often ransacks classics or non-fiction with a collective and builds a new story for the current moment. Olivia fights American perfectionism by telling stories about complex and messy characters, subverting tropes, and giving alternate endings to women who are traditionally tragic. Olivia is Artistic Director of Prop Thtr and a Board Member at The National New Play Network. She was the founding Artistic Director of The Runaways Lab Theatre (Voted Best New Theatre Company in the Chicago Reader's Best of 2014) and currently sits on their advisory board. Olivia’s feature screenplay “The Snowpeople” was selected for Full Spectrum Features Producers’ Lab 2020. Olivia teaches at Chicago Dramatists, Phoenix Theatre, and now The Playwright's Center. Olivia attended Carnegie Mellon School of Drama for Directing, and Interlochen Arts Academy for Music Composition. Olivia is currently getting her MFA in Screenwriting at The University of Nebraska at Omaha. 

 Sign Up Below! 

Questions? Email Membership Programs Associate, Alayna Barnes, at alaynab@pwcenter.org