503Studio – Spring 23: Playwriting Course, Rex Obano

Book Now

503Studio: Playwriting Course, Rex Obano

Five weekly Tuesday sessions from Tuesday 16 May to Tuesday 13 June, 7pm – 9.30pm. The sessions will take place over Zoom.

Rex Obano will lead this course to cover important aspects and approaches to playwriting. This is intended for writers who feel they have a grip on the basics. Chiefly, we will explore ways of finding inspiration for plays. We will explore dramatic action, dialogue, subtext and theme in order to help create and develop characters. The basics of playwriting and storytelling will be explored through practical exercises and sharing in a friendly and supportive environment. The course will culminate in the writing of a 10 minute play.

Week 1 – Beginnings and Theme – we start off by looking at the scope of theatre and the types of plays that can be written and what is possible before moving on to identifying the writers creative voice.

Week 2 – Monologue and Dialogue – we look at monologues and how to sharpen up dialogue.

Week 3 – Writing and Analysing Scenes – we analyse a scene from Tony Kushner’s Angels In America.

Week 4 – Genre and Character – we look at character dynamics within a script and how genre can help with writing.

Week 5 – The Elements of Drama and Endings – we look at poetry and irony in playwriting before looking at how best to end a play.

Theatre503’s Playwriting Courses are bespoke to the individual practitioners. They are now all being pitched to an advanced level, where participants will be expected to have at least some experience of the basic areas of playwriting craft, even if they have not yet written a full length play.

All of the expected areas of craft will be covered by each practitioner but how those practitioners engage with those areas may differ from course to course. Please see the individual course breakdown for more information.

If you have any access requirements, you can let us know here. If you would rather discuss any access requirements and how we can accommodate them prior to booking, please get in touch with us here.

Running time of each workshop: 2.5 hours – delivered online. Maximum class sizes are 14.

To sign up for advanced booking for future iterations of the 503Studio: Writers Programme, please join the waiting list here.

Dates/Times: Tuesday 16 May (7-9.30pm), Tuesday 23 May (7-9.30pm), Tuesday 30 May (7-9.30pm), Tuesday 6 June (7-9.30pm), Tuesday 13 June (7-9.30pm).

Rex Obano has written for the stage, television, radio and film.

His theatre includes Slaves (Theatre 503) and The Door Never Closes (Almeida Theatre).

His radio plays include Burned To Nothing, Someone’s Making A Killing In Nigeria, Lover’s Rock, As Innocent As You Can Get, Oil On Water and The Moors of England. He was the recipient of the 2018 Roland Rees Bursary and is an alumnus of the 503Five.