2010 Crafting Plays Playwrighting Classes with The Playwrights’ Center of SF’s Dramaturge Suze Allen

Whichever road you take into the dramatic writing process, you need a good road map or you can get lost. Find your way with Crafting Plays.

Protagonists, Antagonists and Dialogue
Finding Fully Realized Characters, fine tuning the Unity of Opposites, and writing Dynamic Dialogue. Giving an authentic voice to your characters and something for them to fight for is the very heart of your play.

Premise, Plot and Dramatic Structure
How to have a clear message, a working Dramatic Intensity Curve, a Pivotal Scene, and Meaty Conflicts. What makes for an Intriguing Plot? How do you forward the plot with the Rise and Fall of Physical, Emotional and Psychological Action?

Going Deep - Rewriting, Refining Your Second Draft
Nail down what you really want to say in your play. Solidify your premise and put your play into a synopsis. This workshop focuses on how you get from your first draft to your second with vibrant dialogue, free from exposition, and rich in subtext and revelation.

Collaboration -Tools for the Ultimate Final Draft- Actors, Directors, Dramaturges, and Readings
A director, dramaturge and actors will be on hand to give you insight into your scripts as we explore the process of final draft.

Shaking the Pillars - Writing with the Mythic Journey
Based on a 10-step process of the feminine and masculine journey, you will find ways to deepen your central character’s arc, structure your plot points and strengthen the very pillars of your play from beginning, middle to end.

Saturdays from 3pm – 5pm starting September 18, 2010

Where: SF Writers and Actors’ Studio 149 Prospect Ave SF, CA 94110
FMI or to Sign-Up: Suze Allen suze@playwrightscentersf.org
Playwrightscentersf

Mama-logues
Writing Workouts to Keep Mama Sane, Centered, and Creative

Spring 2010

May 5 – May. 26th, 2010
 11.30 am – 1pm

Compose your Mommy Memoirs. Vent your Mama Mania. Get your birth or adoption story on the page.

Mama-logues is freeing and fun. Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned writer, our creative writing exercises will get your ink flowing. Purposeful writing is a powerful and accessible tool for finding clarity, creativity and balance. Perfect for creating lasting memories. Great for Mama Bloggers, too! Come unleash the power of intentional writing.

For mothers of all ages! Babes in arms welcome.
SF Writers and Actors Studio 149 Prospect Avenue in San Francisco 94110

Mama-logues… because motherhood is a wild ride, crying for expression!

FMI or to sign up email Suze@manuscriptmentor@gmail.com

Instructor Suze Allen is an author, editor, writing coach, playwright, and dramaturge. She is the creator of Mama-logues: Writing Workouts to Keep Mama Sane, Centered and Creative and Manuscript Mentor, which helps clients turn ideas and dreams into effective, vibrant writing. Her new play, The Manic Mama Dance premiered at The Marsh Café and BirthFest 2008. Most recently, Suze was a writing assistant for Dr. Cassandra Vieten’s book, Mindful Motherhood: Practical Tools for Staying Sane During Your Pregnancy and Your Baby’s First Year. Suze’s own book, The Time-Starved Woman’s Guide to Emotional Wellbeing, launched on Mother’s Day, 2009 and is now on sale. She is a member of the Mamas Resource Network. Suze lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children. To find out more about Suze’s writing and other workshops: www.suzeallen.com and www.timestarvedwoman.com

Women in Transition – Climbing into your Authentic Self

Your house is on fire. Your boat is sinking. What do you want take with you? What are you willing to watch sink or go up in flames? Making these decisions can help you navigate change and rediscover your most authentic self.

Living in a culture of advanced technology, time-starvation, overwhelming career and family obligations along with economic and emotional uncertainty often prevents women from taking the time to address and acknowledge life’s vital transitions.

This workshop gives you the time, the space, and the tools to ride the wave of change. Turbulent times are a call to adventure. Embark on the mythic journey with a transformational blend of hatha yoga, purposeful writing, deep relaxation and guided meditation. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of your life in transition and find strategies and rituals for dealing with intense change and daily discomfort. And Research shows that expressive writing, guided imagery and hatha yoga have a profound healing and transformational affect on people undergoing significant upheaval. Forward bends deepen your journey into your core; standing poses help you to climb into your power, and restorative poses help you to hear the still and quiet yearnings of your real self. Purposeful and expressive writing brings you clarity and wisdom. Music, movement, and ritual bring you catharsis and joy.

This Women in Transition workshop helps you to approach your life with acceptance, intention and integrity, so you can grow stronger and more authentic. In this space of creativity, bodywork and ritual, you can choose what you desire rather than what you think you’re supposed to do and break free from what others want from you.

To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, when you accept the adventure of change you ride on the back of everyone that’s gone before you. You are not alone. Take the ultimate of feminine journeys.

Women in Transition Two-Day Retreat
Esalen Institute in Big Sur,
California May 28 - 30, 2010
www.esalen.org

Women in Transition Mini Urban Retreat
Vara Healing Arts on Sunday,
October 16, 2010 1 pm - 6pm