Finish the Thing: June 2021
A virtual playwriting course
with GRP Co-Artistic Director Chris Kaminstein
$200 (early bird price of $150 til May 3)

Saturdays from 10 am - 1 pm, May 29 - June 19

GRP co-Artistic Director Chris Kaminstein is leading another four-week workshop for adult playwrights who are looking to FINISH THAT PROJECT. Featuring prompts and activities from Goat in the Road's research-based writing process, this intensive is great for new writers and old stalwarts alike.

Registration closes on Saturday, May 22.

More about Finish the Thing, June 2021:

Creating text for the stage does not have to be a solitary process, with the writer in the room alone, tearing out their hair (ok, well not ALL of it does). ‘Finish The Thing’ is a course from GRP co-Artistic Director Chris Kaminstein that will give participants the tools to create dynamic text for the stage whether you are a writer, director, or performer. If you have been writing something during the past few months of home-bound-ness, if you are looking to improve your skills, or if you’d like to connect with a community of creators, this course is for YOU. (That’s what I call ‘capitalization for awesome emphasis’.  See how much you’re learning already?) 

 ‘Finish The Thing’ utilizes GRP’s well-honed artistic process in order to help participants create dynamic text that is useful both in devised, collaborative settings, and in more solo-driven writing or performing projects.  Using Michel Gondry’s advice that two important steps in art-making are: 1. Finishing the project and 2. Starting a new project, this course focuses on the skills needed in order to bring new work through the writing process from beginning to end.  It will cover:

1.     Research and brainstorming, with a particular emphasis on using history and science to develop new material.
2.     First draft writing: creating dynamic scenes from scratch.
3.     Editing.
4.     Collaborative critique and final draft preparation.

Schedule:
Saturday, May 29 from 10 am - 1 pm
Saturday, June 5 from 10 am - 1 pm
Saturday, June 12 from 10 am - 1 pm
Saturday, June 19 from 10 am - 1 pm

Note:  Plan to be writing an additional 4-8 hours per week during the above dates.

‘Finish the Thing’ also includes a virtual one-on-one session with Chris to discuss specific work, based on participants’ interest and goals. 

Cost:  $200 ($150 for early birds til May 3).  Scholarships offered, please contact shannon@goatintheroadproductions.org

Who should take this course?
'Finish the Thing' is a class designed for folks with some working knowledge of theatre and plays. It is not necessary that you be an experienced playwright (or necessarily have finished even one), but familiarity with the form will be helpful. If you have any questions about this, you can contact Chris at ckaminstein@gmail.com

What last fall’s participants have to say about “Finish the Thing”:

"This workshop added tools and prompts to my writers' kit to navigate finishing the thing. It also introduced me to a community of writers from whom I learned so much. I appreciated the safe space created by Chris that allowed for bold risk taking. I felt comfortable sharing my work with the group and knew that I would receive feedback that strengthened the work."

"It's an intelligent process, writing oriented workshop with a talented teacher and solid participants."

"It forced me to put the pen to the paper in a meaningful and constrained way."

"The exercises inspire and make you know you can create something that you never would have known otherwise."

"Chris leads this workshop as an equal, as a participant who is simply opening his toolbox and sharing his tools."

Chris Kaminstein is a writer, director, teacher, performer and co-Artistic director of award-winning Goat in the Road Productions (GRP). Co-Directing/co-writing credits include The Uninvited (2020), Roleplay (2019), The Night With Mr. Bismuth (2018), The Stranger Disease (2018), Foreign to Myself (2017), Uncle Vanya Quarter Life Crisis (2015), and Numb (2014).  Directing credits include KindHumanKind (2019), built in collaboration with award-winning New Orleans musician Aurora Nealand.  He also co-wrote the NOLA Project-produced Talkback (2018) with Andrew Larimer. Chris and Kiyoko McCrae received the Big Easy Theatre ‘Best Director’ award for The Stranger Disease.  He is a longtime teacher and educator, and helped create GRP’s innovative and award-winning Play/Write program, now entering its second decade of existence.