Intro to Playwriting: Character, Form, and Dialogue
This course has been canceled. Please check back for Summer 2026 offerings in Fall 2025.
THEA S4105 - 3 POINTS
SESSION A: May 26–July 4, 2025
INSTRUCTOR: Mike Lew
Day & Time: TTh 1–4:10 PM
THEATRE
SUMMER 2025
If you have something you're burning to say. If you're working out a big idea but haven't yet put it to paper. Or, if you're simply curious about playwriting and want to find your voice? Let's circle up. In Intro to Playwriting: Character, Form and Dialogue, students will learn the fundamentals of playwriting with an eye toward developing a new play. The class will be run like a playwriting workshop: students will use exercises and prompts to generate writing, read pages-in-progress and give feedback to each other’s work. Time will also be spent discussing playwriting fundamentals: play form and structure, character arcs, dialogue, scene work, and stakes. Students will read contemporary ten-minute plays and recently produced full-lengths, as well as discuss the business of playwriting and early-career opportunities in NYC and beyond.
Course outcomes: By the end of the class, students will aim to complete either two ten-minute plays, a one act or the first act of a full-length play. But more importantly, students will leave with a road map for the next few steps in their journey as a playwright.
Reading List:
- Sanaz Toosi, English
- Amy Herzog, Mary Jane
- Eboni Booth, Primary Trust
- Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me
- Selected Ten Minute Plays
Columbia students do not need to apply, but they do need to register. All visiting students will need to apply to the School of Professional Studies and register upon acceptance.