Through writing games and exercises participants will create characters, conflict, story and structure, and begin to write a new play.

Using a number of playful exercises, together we’ll investigate the elements of writing for the theatre – character, dialogue, conflict, subtext, stakes, structure, story – and what sets it apart from other forms of creative writing. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have gained an understanding of what makes a play work, generated several starting points for future projects, and started writing a new play.

Learning outcomes

As part of this workshop, you will:

Understand the elements of dramatic writing.
Know where to look for new ideas.
Generate kernels for other projects.
Learn to commit to an idea and follow through with it.
Walk away with the bones of a new play, and a sense of where to go next.

Format

This is an in-person workshop with a focus on writing craft; it will be held at the State Library of Queensland. This workshop is suitable for playwrights of all levels and backgrounds.

About Hilary

Hilary Bell is a multi-award-winning playwright and lyricist. Her work has been produced around Australia, and internationally by theatres including Atlantic and Steppenwolf (USA), London’s National Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe. She won a scholarship to Juilliard’s playwriting program, was the 2003-04 Tennessee Williams Fellow in Creative Writing at Tennessee’s University of the South, and the 2013 Patrick White Playwriting Fellow at the STC. As well as Juilliard, Hilary is a graduate of NIDA and AFTRS, and a founding member of 7-ON Playwrights. With composer Greta Gertler Gold, she is currently writing a musical adaptation of ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’.

For more information about Queensland Writers Centre’s Program of Events and answers to FAQs, please visit: www.queenslandwriters.org.au/program-info