SCCT is yet again happy to be hosting weekly Beginning Playwriting Class with local playwright David Williams this Spring! 

Frequently Asked Questions

(about Beginning Playwriting, occurring every Spring)

You’ve seen plays, you’ve maybe even acted in them, but have you ever wondered what it takes to write a play?  The Beginning Playwriting course presented by SCCT, now in its fourth year, will teach you how.

Do I need to have any writing experience or training?

No, you just need a desire to learn.  The class has had students of all ages and backgrounds, most of which have never written a word for the stage before.    You don’t even need to walk into class with an idea (we’ll work on that together, using writing prompts), and at the end of the seven week course, you’ll have a finished short play.

What’s the structure of the class?

The first half of the course involves lectures and in-class writing exercises about character, dialogue, plot, and the mechanics of what makes writing for the stage different than writing for any other media.  In that time, you’ll be working on what your play will be about and who the characters in your play will be.  The second half of the course is mainly devoted to the students bringing in pages of the plays they have decided to write and talking about them and getting feedback from the instructor and the other students.

Is there a performance of these plays?

This is theatre, of course there’s a performance!  The class ends with what many students consider a highlight of the session: a staged reading of the plays you’ve written.  Invite family and friends to hear your work read by actors at Webster’s Bookstore Café and see your plays brought to life.

So should I sign up now?

Absolutely you should.  Past students have called the class “tremendous fun,” one they would “absolutely recommend to others” and “a great opportunity for anyone who loves theatre and wants to learn the basics of the artform.”  Previous sessions have sold out, so click HERE to register

Any questions?  Feel free to contact instructor David L. Williams at [email protected].

For over 60 years, State College Community Theatre has existed to foster educational recreation for adults and children of this area and to afford opportunity for creative endeavor and expression in the allied arts of the theater; to bring together the amateur talent of the area for the development and advancement of literary, artistic, musical and dramatic production; to propagate by every proper means among the public an understanding of the values of theatre and its contribution to the cultural, ethical, and moral life in the schools and community; and to encourage and support the highest standards of quality in all areas of theatrical activity.