Courses
The Saturday Playwrights' Course (Three Phases)
Please note change of dates
Who: Timothy Daly
Timothy Daly is one of Australia’s most internationally successful playwrights, with a string of national and international awards and productions. In 2012, Timothy returns with his highly successful, intensive course that will take you from the start to the finish of writing your play.
Open to both beginning writers for theatre as well as those with some experience, this year-long course is one of the most detailed, practical and ‘hands-on’ available. You will receive detailed notes and helpful writing exercises as well as have the chance to write your own play and workshop it in class.
To book into all three phases please scroll to the bottom. For individual acts, click on the links below.
Phase One: Basic Theatre Skills
8 x Saturday afternoons: 10, 17, 24 & 31 March; 21 & 28 April; 5 & 12 May, 1pm-4pm
This phase takes you through the basic techniques important for theatre writing.
Week 1: Components of Linear Narrative. How stories & plotting work in theatre.
Week 2: Skills Needed for Play Writing & how to acquire them.
Week 3: Dialogue Techniques, Dialogue Patterns & Imagistic Writing for theatre.
Week 4: Dramatic Textures and how texture affects theatre space.
Week 5: Characterisation Techniques & The Relationship Journey in theatre.
Week 6: Techniques of Scene Writing & Writing for Actors.
Week 7: Modernism Vs Humanism: Understanding the two dominant aesthetics in contemporary theatre.
Week 8: Under 35 Vs Over 35 Theatre: Understanding the two dominant audiences in contemporary theatre.
Phase Two: Contemporary Theatre Games
8 x Saturday afternoons: 30 June; 7, 14 & 21 July; 4, 11, 18 & 25 August, 1pm-4pm
This phase introduces you to a little-known aspect of theatre, that contemporary theatre is dominated by particular styles and genres. Each week a different contemporary dramatic genre is studied.
Week 1: The Sentimental Moral Drama: Mastering one of contemporary theater’s most internationally popular genres.
Week 2: The Boutique Epic: an introduction to the most dominant international theatre genre.
Week 3: The Cynical Modern Comedy and Social Comedy compared and analysed.
Week 4: Black, Surreal & Grotesque Comedy & How to mix the comic tones.
Week 5: The Siege Thriller & the techniques of claustrophobia.
Week 6: The Boutique Epic compared to European Abstract Modernism.
Week 7: The Contemporary Mystery Play and its techniques.
Week 8: Writing Gothic: Urban, Suburban & Rural Gothic & their stylistic features.
Phase Three: Full-length Play Structure
8 x Saturday afternoons: 8, 15, 22 & 29 September; 6, 13, 20 & 27, 1pm-4pm
This phase introduces you to the vital structural aspects of the full-length play, and also provides workshopping of your developing play.
Week 1: Starting Act I: Play Types, Act Structures & How to start your play.
Week 2: Driving Act 1: Understanding the forces that drive your first act.
Week 3: Writing your Act I Climax: How to end your act, and a comparison of the available types of Act I Climaxes.
Week 4: Starting Act 2: Some principles and techniques in starting your second Act.
Week 5: Act 2 Crisis, Bedlam, Climax & Ending: Shaping a powerful ending to your play.
Week 6: Working Methods: 21 ways of working on a play & how to keep going until you get to the end.
Week 7: Theatre Vs TV, Radio & Film Writing: A comparison of the different techniques required for each medium.
Week 8: The Writing Career: National & International Markets for your work, and how to sell your work in Australia and overseas.
Food
Tea and coffee making facilities will be provided. Course participants are advised to bring their own lunch as there are no cafes within easy walking distance.
About the tutor
Timothy Daly is one of Australia’s most internationally-produced playwrights, with productions in many countries. The author of plays including The Man in the Attic, Kafka Dances and Derrida In Love, Timothy Daly has worked with actors of the calibre of Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Jacki Weaver, Lynette Curran and Bruce Spence. His many awards include Awgies, the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award & South Africa’s “Vita” Awards
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