Playwrights Local & Literary Cleveland Present

Just the Facts, Man:

Documentary Playwriting Workshop

With Christopher Johnston

November 1, 8, 15, & 29 | December 6 & 13

Mondays 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Presented remotely/online via Zoom

$180 ($120 for Literary Cleveland members)

As playwrights, we usually draw from real-life stories to create a narrative play. However, we can also do extensive research and interviews with people on which to build a documentary theater piece about a dynamic individual or a particular group or people, say veterans or victims of domestic violence. We have the option to create characters based on those interviewees or by using the subject’s exact words from an interview transcript in a verbatim piece. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the techniques necessary to research a topic and get comprehensive interviews from which to draw material or language for the docudrama. Each student will develop a shorter piece that can stand on its own or be developed into a one-act or full-length play.

Registration at Literary Cleveland

https://www.litcleveland.org/classes-workshops/just-the-facts-man-documentary-playwriting-workshop

About the Instructor

Christopher Johnston has written several docudramas based on extensive, in-depth interviewing, including Sexually Explicit Material about people's sexual experiences and beliefs at Cleveland Public Theatre, Ghosts of War about Vietnam veterans at Dobama Theatre, My Body is Blue about a victim of domestic violence at Dobama and convergence-continuum, and Live Bodies for Sale about human trafficking in Northeast Ohio at Playwrights Local.

About Playwrights Local

Playwrights Local is a theater company in Cleveland. As a playwrights’ center, our goal is to provide a home for dramatic writing in Northeast Ohio. We offer classes and workshops, produce original plays, provide networking opportunities, and engage the community through outreach projects. Learn more about us at http://playwrightslocal.org/. Make your tax-deductible contributions to our 501(c)(3) group at http://www.playwrightslocal.org/donate/.

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