PLAYWRITING Classes (ages 8-12 & 13-16)
PLAYMAKING 101 and 202 with nedra
Playmaking 101 is an 8-week course, involving improv, theatre games, writing exercises and creative movement.
Come find your inner Shakespeare, or Aphra Behn, or David Mamet or Suzan-Lori Parks, or Andrew Lloyd Webber or Alison Bechdel. (These are all playwrights, by the way and all of them were kids once, just like you!) Students will work together through improvisation to develop an original performance piece, culminating in a staged reading of their scripts!
Playmaking 202 is an 8-week course that takes it from page to stage. We rehearse, design the sets and costumes and perform the scripts that were written in 101!
So what do you do once you’ve finished writing a brilliant play? Well it’s time to perform it!
Come join PLAYMAKING 202, or some might say Ready, Set, Show!!!…or really: rehearsal, blocking, notes, more rehearsal, notes, more rehearsal, notes, more rehearsal notes, repeat, repeat and then set, costumes, dress rehearsal and then drum roll, trumpet herald, and cymbal crash ---THE Performance!!! So put on your director’s hat, or actor's …suspenders(??)... or maybe you fancy yourself a costume designer or set builder. Or you love being organized and incredibly helpful so you’re a natural stage manager or whatever you're hankering to do... let’s take that play and perform it!
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You may enroll in 101 only, 202 only, or BOTH sessions!
Playmaking 101 will be offered in June, 102 in July.
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2 hour class
Saturdays 12:00pm-2:00pm
$295
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NEDRA GALLEGOS is a long time Teaching Artist specializing in Theatre. Currently she is an Instructor at the New York Film Academy of Los Angeles, there she teaches Women in Film, and Television, Theatre History and Acting History and she just returned from the Edinburgh Theatre Fringe Festival where a one-woman show that she co-wrote and directed, Jewbana, debuted and was positively received.
Nedra has extensive experience teaching acting and directing for: private and public schools, homeless shelters, and universities from NY to LA. She worked as a teaching artist with Pasadena Playhouse for their New Generations Theatre Access Program, where she taught middle and high school students about the main stage productions through theatre games and discussion. She also worked for BRIDGE Theatre, an organization that works with students to develop their own scripts and perform them for their community.
While teaching in New York City, Nedra worked with the Women’s Project as a teaching artist and developed and directed original plays with high school students. She worked with Manhattan Country School and directed their end of the year musical, and also served as the director for an after-school arts program in Coney Island, where the focus was on developing original plays and films.
As a teaching artist, many of her workshops focus on the theme of community. Through theatre games, improv, creative movement and script development, her students have a space to find their creative voice, share ideas, and forge friendships. For years she has used theatre improvisation games and storytelling techniques to allow people to lower their barriers and discover something about themselves and each other.
Nedra has a MFA in Performance from Pennsylvania State University, is an actress and has been a proud member of Actor’s Equity since 1996.