Tuesdays, March 4 – April 8, 2025
8 pm ET / 5 pm PT
Six 75-minute live Zoom sessions
Cost: $250
Max enrollment: 12
Have you ever wanted to write a play? Not sure where to begin? This course is for you. We’ll meet in six 75-minute virtual meetings to discuss new plays, playwriting and techniques for creating vibrant characters and dialogue.
After two introductory classes, four of our class meetings will include discussion time to read a scene from a play by a contemporary playwright and time for members to share scenes they are working on, and for feedback to be provided in the Liz Lerman method. Weekly assignments (to be done outside of class time; about an hour a week or as much time as you want to spend writing) will be used as material during the workshop portion of classes.
Renée Darline Roden is a graduate of Notre Dame twice over. She has an undergraduate Bachelor of the Arts in theatre and theology (with a minor in Catholic social thought) and a graduate degree in theology. She has taught theatre for nearly two decades, to preschool thespians, high school students, college students and seminarians. She has directed productions at the University of Notre Dame and off-off-off-off Broadway in New York City. She is a playwright whose work has appeared at staged readings and festivals in Milwaukee (“Pedro & Galileo”), New York City (“The Last Hurricane”; “Genna the Goldfish Solves it All”), Chicago (“Cali-for-No-One”), at the Catholic Imagination Conference (“Is the Internet in Color?”) and has been produced in New York City (“SHE”).
Renée is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. Her first book, “Tantur: Seeking Christian Unity in a Divided City” is available for pre-order at Liturgical Press. Her writing has appeared in The Nation, Religion News Service, The Associated Press, Sojourners, America and U.S. Catholic, among others. In 2022, she led a team of journalists in reporting on maternity leave policies in Catholic dioceses across the United States for FemCatholic. You can learn about that reporting and more at her website reneedarlineroden.com. You can also visit her literary test kitchen at Sweet Unrest on Substack.
Legal pad
Pen
Book: “Plano,” by Will Arbery
Participants are responsible for obtaining their own copy of “Plano.”
Reading Packet:
“Henry V,” Shakespeare
“Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play,” Anne Washburn
“Eurydice,” Sarah Ruhl
“Our Town,” Thornton Wilder
Reading packet will be provided to all participants in PDF format.
Session I:
Introduction to JML
Introduction to class members
Introduction to playwriting
What is a play?
How do you write it?
What are the core principles?
Assignment: Read “Plano”
Session II:
Opening prayer/examen
Discuss “Plano”
Read a scene
Discuss scene
Writing exercise
Flashwriting exercise
Assignment: Read scenes from “Mr. Burns” and “Henry V”; write something about it: poem, scene, monologue, reflection one sentence
Session III:
Opening prayer/examen
Art share (2 people)
Discuss play
Read a scene
Discuss scene
Writing exercise: write a scene
A/B characters
Assignment: Read scenes from “Eurydice” and “Our Town” and work on your scene
Session IV:
Opening prayer/examen
Art share (3-4 people)
Discuss play
Act out one scene
Discuss scene
Assignment: Work on your scene
Session V:
Opening prayer/examen
Share scenes (3-4 people)
Discuss play
Act out one scene
Discuss scene
Assignment: Work on your scene or start a new one
Session VI:
Opening prayer/examen
Share scenes (3-4 people)
Feedback session (Liz Lerman Method)
Share final reflection
Renée Darline Roden is a graduate of Notre Dame twice over and has taught theatre for nearly two decades, to preschool thespians, high school students, college students and seminarians. She is a playwright, and she has directed productions at the University of Notre Dame, and off-off-off-off Broadway in New York City.
