Adult Playwrights Program at ACT Theatre

January 4, 2012

I recently signed up for the Intermediate Playwriting Course through ACT Theatre in Seattle, WA. This will be the second time I have taken this course, the first time being in the fall of 2011. Stephanie Timm teaches the course, taking ten budding playwrights through several weeks of assignments and feedback.

I’m excited to take this course again. Having the rigorous structure of assignments and a weekly class managed to keep me on task and give me short-term goals. However, it was different from college because we were all adults. The knowledge and feedback provided by my fellow classmates was peppered with a different sort of experience and there was less pressure. We were all excited to try new things with Stephanie’s assignments because there wasn’t the added pressure of an institutional environment.

The course not only provides writers with an opportunity to hear feedback from Stephanie—an established and fresh playwright—and fellow classmates, but at the end of the session, actors can weight in too. After the course is complete, there is a showcase, for which local Seattle actors rehearsed and read scenes from our plays for our friends and families. Last time it was such a rewarding experience to hear the words on the page come out of someone’s mouth with conviction and emotion. It was a rewarding experience.

I am eager to start the course again on this coming Sunday.

Another neat fact about the course: all of the proceeds paid by participants fund the Young Playwrights Program at ACT Theatre. High school students are given the opportunity to write their own plays! Taught by local Seattle playwrights! I wish that had been around when I was in high school.

I am honored to be a part of ACT Theatre’s playwriting programs. If you are interested, you should consider signing up in the fall! There are two courses, one intro and the other intermediate. Pick the one that fits for you!

Categorized in: