**REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED**

CLASS DESCRIPTION

Federico García Lorca’s theory of Duende has influenced generations of playwrights and artists, including Julián Mesri. Famously hard to define, Duende refers to a form of artistic inspiration that comes from within—one that is essential to theater. In this seminar, Julián examines playwriting through the lens of Duende. Students will gain a deeper understanding of Lorca's aesthetics and their reflections in contemporary theater while also exploring how to think about Duende in their own theatrical work.

This class is for you if you:

• Love or would like to get to know Lorca’s work.
• Want to gain an appreciation for theater that goes beyond plot/character/theme.
• Are searching for new forms of artistic inspiration.
• Are interested in the poetics of playwriting.
• Are interested in Spanish theater.
• Are interested in learning more about Julián Mesri’s work and approach to writing.

What to expect:

• Engage with Lorca's "Theory and play of duende".
• Discover contemporary examples from film, theater, and music of 'duende'.
• In-class writing exercises for how playwrights can access duende in their writing.
• In-class reading and discussion of excerpts of plays using various forms of inspiration.

Important Things to Note:

• When you sign up, you will receive an auto-confirmation email. About a week before the first session you will receive a detailed confirmation email with important information about the seminar including (1) Membership Programs Participation Form (2) The Zoom link (3) Pre-assignments from the instructor and (4) Information about the PWC Membership and Education Team.
• If you have not received this email within an hour of the session, please check your spam folder or reach out to Alayna and she will make sure you have the information you need for the seminar.
• All participants must complete and submit a Membership Programs Participation Form for each seminar or class they want to attend. A link to this form is included in the detailed confirmation email.

Class Type: Playwriting craft               

Class Level: All levels are welcomed

Class Dates: Monday, December 4th

Class Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm CT 

(4:30pm PT, 5:30pm MT, 7:30pm ET)

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

Structure: Lecture/presentation, Discussion, Writing prompts, Exercises, Q&A, In-class readings, In-class videos

Questions: Email Alayna, Membership Programs Manager at alaynab@pwcenter.org

Captioning: For all sessions, we enable Zoom's auto-generated captioning. However, live captioning can be requested (with 2-weeks' notice) via the Membership Programs Participation Form shared in the detailed confirmation email.

Recordings: If you cannot attend a portion of the seminar, we have a Teaching Assistant and/or PWC facilitator taking in-depth notes. These written notes will be shared with all participants at the end of each session. (We record all of our sessions for internal use only. We do not share recordings with participants.)

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

NOTE FROM JULIÁN

Understanding not only duende, but Lorca's distinctions between the other form is a novel way to think about the work one encounters, and especially what makes theater such a unique form. 

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Julián Mesri is a New York-based Argentinean-American composer and writer who makes multilingual plays and musicals in the US and around the world. He is a current member of the Public Theater Emerging Writers Group and received a 2020-2021 EST/Sloan Commission for his musical Favaloro: A Heart in Pieces. He was the composer, co-adapter, co-lyricist and translator for Public Mobile Unit’s musical adaptation for Comedy of Errors directed by Rebecca Martinez. Recent productions include Telo (Live and In Color Finalist, O’Neill NMTC Finalist), Bartolomé de las Casas Ruins My Pool (O’Neill NPC Finalist)Immersion (Ingenio Festival at Milagro Theater, Columbia/Roundabout Finalist, BAPF Semi-Finalist. Mesri has been an Emerging Artist of Color Fellow and Usual Suspect at NYTW, a Van Lier fellow at Repertorio Español, and the recipient of an ASCAP Scholarship. His adaptation of Fuenteovejuna received the HOLA Outstanding production award. He has also translated dramatic works for the Lark US/Mexico Exchange and PEN World Voices. He received his MFA from Columbia University.

Instagram @jmesri