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Improbable Fiction: Playwriting Workshops

September 3, 2020October 8, 2020 mistressq Fall 2020

PLAYWRITING – Level I
This 4-week workshop is jam packed with brain-clearing writing exercises, inspiring prompts – examples include: fearless writing, music as inspiration, creative partnerships, different stages of theatre-making, a play’s form, developing your writer’s voice – leading to the creation of a short play (10 minutes or less) We will conclude with a virtual performance of all the plays.

Saturdays from 12:30 to 2 pm

SESSION I:
September 19 to October 17
Performance – October 17

PLAYWRITING – Level II
Borrowing from the best playwright’s rituals, we’ll take our writing to the next level. Exercises will be aimed at generating ideas and moving them onto the page. The point is to encourage the emergence of the subconscious and weave it into our work. We’ll also explore what goes into writing a First Draft versus revising a Draft, and will conclude with a presentation featuring virtual “readings” of all the plays.
Prerequisite: Level One, a previous LADC/SYF Playwriting Workshop, or permission from the instructor.

Saturdays from 12:30 to 2 pm

SESSION II:
October 24 – November 21
Performance – November 21

AGES: 6th grade and up
TUITION: $100 / session

REGISTER TODAY

Black Lives Matter

July 24, 2020September 5, 2020 mistressq Featured

There are compelling examples of who “to be” and who “not to be” all around us.

As teaching artists, we strive to point our children’s eyes to hope while acknowledging suffering as part of the human experience, and we renew our commitment to creating theater that reflects the cultures and life experiences of our diverse community.

As Angelenos, the answer we offer is compassion, courage, and service.

What can we do right now?

Patronize Black-Owned Businesses

We personally recommend these businesses that keep us fueled during rehearsals, workshops, cast parties, and performances.

Black Owned Businesses
Gus’ Chicken
My Two Cents
We Jammin
Watts Coffee House
Sky’s Gourmet Tacos

Brown-Owned Businesses
Las Ranas
Con Sabor
Mateo’s Ice Cream
Vee’s Cafe

More businesses

Know the Past; Change the Future

As theatre-makers, we we know the power of sharing our stories. But too many stories of Black America have been buried or forgotten.

1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Seneca Village

History of Black Cowboys

1923 Rosewood Massacr e

Onesimus and Innoculation

The Reconstruction Era

The Struggle for Voting Rights

Red Summer

Get Involved / Donate

Showing Up for Racial Justice

Use of Force Project

National Council For Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

Black Youth Project 100

We learn from each other. Do you have a resource, organization, business, etc that you would like to recommend for this page? Email us.

We believe that …

the Performing Arts have the power to change a child’s life, and because we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience that power, we are committed to creating theater that reflects the cultures and life experiences of our diverse community.

We are dedicated to making our programs accessible to all children and to actively nurture participation by those who have been historically underrepresented, based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, citizenship status, religion or socioeconomic status.

We strive to ensure that our children are guided by a diverse collective of teaching artists, and that our policies are set by a Board of Directors that is representative of our community.

While we focus on the works of William Shakespeare, a prominent figure in the Western literary canon, we are committed to exploring Shakespeare’s themes as they apply to all humanity.

Summer with SYF moves online!!

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020 mistressq Featured

Registration is now open for Summer with Shakespeare Youth Festival ONLINE – a fantastic way to introduce kids to Theatre and to Shakespeare!

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ONLINE FORMAT? GET ANSWERS HERE!

SHAKESPEARE INTENSIVE

We’ll explore the characters and language of Shakespeare, improvisation, storytelling, voice and movement, stage combat, mask work, and more!

The week culminates with a live online presentation, where Players will share the work with parents and friends.

THE MAGIC OF SHAKESPEARE
It’s all about the fairies, sprites, wizards and other magical elements found in the Canon. And we’ll use this crazy new medium to create some magical special effects!!
Session One – July 6 – 10

THE KINGS & QUEENS OF SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare’s History plays are not only chock full of all sorts of fascinating characters, but they bring to life the struggle between power and justice. Shakespeare truly wrote into the future!
Session Two – July 13 – 17

SHAKESPEARE & MYTHOLOGY
Shakespeare set many of his plays in Greece and Rome, and his references to mythology and Greek and Roman Gods show up throughout – let’s explore!!
Session Three – July 20 – 24

THE ROGUES OF SHAKESPEARE
What would Shakespeare be without its troublemakers? Whether they are making us laugh like Falstaff and Feste, or making trouble like Iago and Iachimo, or making history like Hotspur and Hal, the rulebreakers have a lot to teach us!
Session Four – July 27 – 31

Monday through Friday, 10 am to 3 pm
TUITION: $125 per week *

YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS

THE PLAYS THE THING! WRITE/DIRECT YOUR SHORT PLAY
The program consists of rigorous, exciting storytelling and playwriting sessions, creating short plays out of improvisations with prompts, autobiographical moments, and stories the group creates together.

In the mornings, writers will join our actors in improvisation, story-telling and other modules that will support their work as writers. In the afternoon, they will focus on the writing aspect, as they are joined by professional actors and SYF actors, who will support them in development, and who will perform the plays at the end of the week.

July 13 – 17

Monday through Friday, 10 am to 3 pm
TUITION: $125

* We believe that every child who is drawn to this work should be able to participate, so we offer a variety of scholarships – click here for the application form and guidelines. Please do not hesitate to apply!

Young Playwrights’ Fest

February 25, 2020February 28, 2020 mistressq Registration - Summer with LADC, Summer with SYF 2020

June 22 – 26
9 am to 3 pm
Catch One – 4067 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019

THE PLAYS THE THING! WRITE/DIRECT YOUR TEN MINUTE PLAY
The program consists of rigorous, exciting storytelling and playwriting sessions throughout the day, creating short plays out of improvisations with prompts, autobiographical moments, and stories the group creates together. We will also discuss the art, craft and business of playwriting.

The playwrights will work with an ensemble of actors made up of professional actors and LADC actors, who will perform the plays at the end of the week.

Grade 7 and up (Fall 2020)

Shakespeare Intensive

February 25, 2020February 28, 2020 mistressq Registration - Summer with LADC, Summer with SYF 2020

July 6 – 10
9 am to 3 pm
Catch One – 4067 Pico Blvd, LA 90019

Students will spend their days discovering Shakespeare through the best tools and techniques theater has to offer. The LADC technique begins with the improvisational work of Viola Spolin and Agosto Boal, and expands on that to include a variety of physical and vocal disciplines – with the ultimate purpose always to invoke the creative spirit that exists in every child.

During the Summer Intensive, our Players will work on a variety of scenes and sonnets, discover the world of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan England, and work together to create a performance that will be shared with friends and family.

NOTE: Student is not required to participate in the second session of our Shakespeare Intensive – you can take both or either one.

For 2nd through 8th grade (Fall 2020)

Shakespeare and Mythology

February 25, 2020February 28, 2020 mistressq Registration - Summer with LADC, Summer with SYF 2020

July 13 – 17
9 am to 3 pm
Catch One – 4067 Pico Blvd, LA 90019

We not only explore Shakespeare’s plays set in Greece and Rome, but his references to mythology and Greek and Roman Gods, and the perspectives of Philosophers like Plato, Epicurus, Ovid, Lucretius, Seneca and Cicero. We explore some of the connections between Shakespeare, and playwrights such as Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Plautus. And we introduce the basis for all modern books, plays and screenplays – Aristotle’s Poetics. With this rich banquet of ideas, we create original skits and weave them with Shakespeare’s Greek & Roman plays.

For 2nd through 8th grade (Fall 2020)

Subversive Shakespeare … and Beyond

February 25, 2020March 11, 2020 mistressq Registration - Summer with LADC, Summer with SYF 2020

July 20 – 24
9 am to 3 pm
Catch One – 4067 W Pico, LA 90019

It is often said of Shakespeare that he “wrote into the future” – who are the modern playwrights who are doing the same thing? We’ll take a deep-dive into a variety of scripts – both classical and contemporary – that have something to say about the world our young people are confronting today – where there’s art, there’s hope!!

Grade 7 and up (Fall 2020)

Shakespeare Intensive (week 2)

February 25, 2020February 28, 2020 mistressq Registration - Summer with LADC, Summer with SYF 2020

July 27 – 31
9 am to 3 pm
Catch One – 4067 Pico Blvd, LA 90019

NOTE: Student does NOT need to have participated in the first session of our Shakespeare Intensive – you can take both or either one.

For 2nd through 8th grade (Fall 2020)

Shakespeare and Music

February 25, 2020February 28, 2020 mistressq Registration - Summer with LADC, Summer with SYF 2020

August 3 – August 7
9 am to 3 pm
Catch One – 4067 W. Pico, LA 90019

The works of Shakespeare are filled with song. As always, students will spend their days discovering Shakespeare using a variety of physical and vocal disciplines – with the ultimate purpose always to invoke the creative spirit that exists in every child. But for this special week, we will pay special emphasis to the plays where his words are accompanied with music and dancing.

Participants need not be singers/dancers – each child will have the opportunity to explore within his/her comfort zone, and encouraged to reach outside of it when ready!

For 2nd through 8th grade (Fall 2020)

Help support Shakespeare Youth Festival: LA

January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 mistressq Uncategorized

Producing a theater festival costs money, and registrations and ticket sales cover only a portion of those costs. Your donation helps us keep the cost of tuition and registration low, makes the experience of performing in the Festival available to any and every child in Los Angeles, and assures that we can perform in a real theater, with lights and sound, dressed in beautiful costumes!!