Atelier

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A Blank Page, taught by composer Dave Malloy and director Annie Tippe, invites playwrights, composers, directors, and performers of all levels to explore creativity and collaboration through the form of musical theater. Students will study various musicals and their source materials, in tandem with writings and exercises on creativity and collaboration, aimed toward unlocking the process of exploding source material into the musical form and onto the stage. The class will culminate in the creation of short one-act musicals, to be written, directed, and performed by the students.

In this course, students will creatively explore the script and investigate the novel's underlying subject matter, spanning concepts from science and moral philosophy. Guest speakers and professional guest artists will be invited to share insights on topics relevant to our process and the dramaturgy of this creative work and be a part of the creative process.

Taught by Bridget Kearney (Lake Street Dive) with class visits from guest singer/songwriters and music critics, this course is an introduction to the art of writing words for music, an art at the core of our literary tradition from the Beowulf poet through Lord Byron and Bessie Smith to Bob Dylan and the Notorious B.I.G.. Composers, writers and performers will have the opportunity to work in small songwriting teams to respond to such emotionally charged themes as Gratitude, Loss, Protest, Desire, Joyousness, Remorse, and Defiance.

Will Eno (Obie Award, Pulitzer Prize finalist) leads a workshop devoted to the study and creation of the dramatic monologue. Students will study various monologues to understand and reaffirm the very simple idea behind all of them: I'm trying to talk to you. Every other week we'll be joined by a specialist from outside the realm of theater and creative writing—a psychologist, philosopher, provocateur—to help us realize the challenges and possibilities of the form from their unique viewpoint. The aim is that these different perspectives inspire us in wild new directions while we grow in our understanding of ancient truths.

The Atelier "Performing Marivaux" will offer students the rare chance to work with celebrated French director and playwright Guillaume Vincent, known in France for revisiting the classics. The course will be co-taught by Guillaume Vincent and Florent Masse, the Director of L'Avant-Scène, the French Theater Workshop.