Writing the queer play
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
Course Code: HW272
Duration: 3 sessions (over 3 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Center for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
This short course offers a unique opportunity to explore your own writing and challenge yourself to dig deep into the queer experience to create compelling scripts for the stage. It is a chance to experiment and to push the boundaries within a safe and supportive environment.
This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad/smart phone/iPhone if you don't have a computer.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.
What will we cover?
Using extracts from Queer plays we will examine:
- The construction of queer identities in a dramatic setting.
- Queer dramatic landscapes
- Queering character and plot
- Queer signifiers.
- Queer playwrights
- Developing the writer’s voice.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Create your own compelling queer characters
- Use traditional story structures to outline your own queer play
- Create compelling dialogue
- Generate original storylines
- Give and receive feedback on written work with confidence.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is suitable for writers who have an interest in the queer play and some basic experience of playwriting. It will offer you insight and inspiration to embark on your next writing project. You will need to be fluent in English.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
You will learn through interactive tutor presentation, discussion and analysis of published extracts of plays, group work, writing tasks, and feedback on your work. There will be optional homework set outside of class.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
No additional costs. You may wish to bring a pen and paper.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
You can enrol on one of our term-long playwriting courses such as Ways into Playwriting (beginner) or Developing your Playwriting (intermediate), if you have more experience and feel confident receiving rigorous feedback on a work in progress, one of our Advanced Playwriting options. You may also be interested in exploring the queer experience in stories and novels with Reading for Writers: Queer Fiction. To browse our full range of creative writing courses, visit www.citylit.ac.uk/creativewriting.
All students are invited to join us at Late Lines, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to Between the Lines, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on Facebook and Twitter.
Grant Corr is an award-winning writer, he writes for radio, stage and television. He has worked with Soho theatre, Nottingham play house, Omnibus theatre Clapham, the Old Red Lion Islington and has worked with RTE’s drama department as both a story liner and episode writer. His award-winning plays for young people have been performed in schools around London and Northern Ireland as well as the Edinburgh fringe. As well as a writer he is an experienced drama teacher having taught in schools across London for twenty years and has extensive experience facilitating play writing workshops with the National theatre’s New Views project. Grant has just completed a PhD in play writing at the University of East Anglia.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
