You do not have to revise your play. You get to revise your play. Revision is not a virtue; it is a tactic. What’s more: all evidence suggests that the revision of a work of art is the thing that makes it last. This frank, hands-on master class disputes the notion that you need a flash of inspiration to make your play better. What you need is an approach. You require tangible methods to test the veracity of your play’s narrative mechanisms – scene by scene, sentence by sentence. We cannot do work on our play until we can articulate how our play does its work. That – along with actionable strategies for inviting scrutiny – is the driving force of this class about the art and craft of revision.
About STEVEN DIETZ:
Designated one of the “20 Most Produced Playwrights in America” on multiple occasions, Steven Dietz’s recent world premieres include adaptations of GASLIGHT (from Patrick Hamilton) and MURDER ON THE LINKS (from Agatha Christie), as well as the serio-comic thriller, HOW A BOY FALLS. His newest play, VIAL MAN (THE APOTHECARY’S STORY), was recently presented in Minneapolis and Seattle. His play SHOOTING STAR was adapted by Dietz and Kirk Lynn into the recent Meg Ryan movie, “What Happens Later.” Dietz taught in the MFA Directing & Playwriting programs at UT for a dozen years, and continues to conduct master classes in playwriting, story-making, and collaboration across the U.S.
This project is funded and supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.