Theatre503 Writers’ Programme Course: Write Your First Full Length Play, Steve Harper

Theatre503 introduces its flagship writing course, to support you to write your first full length play led by Literary Manager, Steve Harper.

Our course will provide a structured exploration at pivotal stages of the process and incorporate discussion, exercises and shared experience around particular points in the process and directly in response to the work you are creating throughout.

Acknowledging that not one given process works for all writers, we will aim to explore as many alternative processes as possible. Writers will be encouraged to explore and share their own experiences of what has been useful and what has got in the way, with the course providing a space within which to reflect on these and guidance to how we might best draw on these experiences to inform our writing processes going forward.

We will provide ongoing dramaturgical support throughout the process, but with an awareness to the fact that all writers processes are bespoke. In this sense, whilst structured, we will also have the flexibility to provide different levels of dramaturgical support to individual writers at different stages of the process.

Tues 4th June 2024 – Session 1 – Ideas

Tues 11th June 2024 – Session 2 – Mapping Your Play

Tues 18th June 2024 – Session 3 – Character & Character Journeys

Tues 25th June 2024 – Session 4 – Scenes

Tues 16th July 2024 – Session 5 – Dialogue/Subtext

Tues 23rd July 2024 – Session 6 – Setting/Space

Tues 30th July 2024 – Session 7 – Structure

Tues 6th August 2024 – Session 8 – Tutorials/Feedback

Please note we cannot commit to an ongoing dramaturgical relationship with any pieces that may develop on this course, or commit to a production. However we will offer an open and honest discussion with all participants about possible next steps for their work, recommendations of other development opportunities that might be of benefit, and guidance to where their work may best be suited in terms of future engagement.

Thanks to our Share The Drama scheme, we want to make sure those of you who are struggling in the current climate can still take part in our Writers Programme. If you would like to book a Share The Drama bursary for the Writer’s Programme, please call our box office on 02079787040.

If you have any access requirements, you can let us know by contacting boxoffice@theatre503.com. You can view what we currently are able to offer on our Accessibility page.

Eight sessions starting from Tuesday 4th June, 7:00pm – 9:30pm. The sessions will take place over Zoom. Maximum class sizes are 16. A portion of spaces have been reserved for Share the Drama places.

It is important to consider that this is not an introduction to playwriting but a course that will provide opportunities to refresh our basic knowledge of the craft in direct relationship to our work and the objective of writing a play. It is a course aimed at helping those writers trying to move from writing short plays to full length work, or those who might have written some full length work and feel it would be helpful to have a structured and ongoing dramaturgical relationship throughout the process.

To find out more and book: Theatre503 | Theatre503 Writers’ Programme: Write Your First Full Length Play with Steve Harper