Playwriting
Who hasn't failed at this one point when they have an idea for a play in their head, the beginning of a drama in the drawer, and the theatre material in their hands? With professional help and input from other participants, this workshop offers playwrights with an affinity for theatre and those who want to become playwrights the opportunity to develop their writing approach. We will focus on conceptual exploration of a sustainable form and structure as well as on initial writing attempts for individual scenes.
This workshop is led by Prof. Gerhild Steinbuch, head of the Language Arts programme in Vienna, and Prof. Dr. John von Düffel, head of the Scenic Writing programme at the UdK and dramaturge at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Play development is their specialisation both in teaching and theatre practice and, of course, in their own work. The work basis is always the material that the workshop participants bring with them. By working on their own drafts and on the basis of text components of the others, the participants search for and find answers to the specific questions of their texts and experience the diversity and variety of different writing approaches and projects.
The workshop is aimed at all those who have an idea for a dramatic text and initial approaches to it, who are working on a material or substance that they want to give structure and shape for the stage, who are conceiving a text-based project that includes dramatic writing. In this respect, the workshop is aimed at beginners (if they have started) and advanced learners (who need assistance to get a step further).
Gerhild Steinbuch, born 1983 in Mödling, studied Scenic Writing at the DRAMA FORUM Graz and MA Dramaturgy at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. Since 2019, she has been teaching at and since 2021 leading the Institute of Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She writes texts for spoken and musical theatre, radio plays, prose, essays, works as a freelance dramaturg as well as a translator from English (most recent work: (Not) The End of the World by Chris Bush, directed by Katie Mitchell, premiere Schaubühne Berlin, 2021). Her texts are represented by Rowohlt Theater Verlag. Winner of the play competition of the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz Berlin, participation in the Bachmann Prize, scholarship holder of the Authors' Workshop Prose at the Literary Colloquium Berlin, in the Authors' Lab at Schauspiel Frankfurt, Hansmann-Poethen Scholarship, manuskripte Prize, most recently scholarship holder of the Berliner Ensemble 2021/2022. Gerhild Steinbuch is a founding member of HYDRA (formerly Nazis & Goldmund), a writers' initiative against the European right, and co-initiator of VIELEN in Austria. Recent works as an author: Wir sind so frei (Nationaltheater Mannheim, 2020), Orpheus Institut (Staatsoper Stuttgart, 2020), Sportplatz Europa ( brut Wien, 2021), The Soccer Opera ( Athens Epidaurus Festival, 2021), Die Vorüberlaufenden (Deutsche Oper Berlin, 2021), In letzter Zeit Wut (Schauspiel Frankfurt, 2021).
Photo: Clara Wildberger
Prof. John von Düffel, born in Göttingen, is one of the leading dramatists of German theatre, working as an author and dramaturg for the major theatres such as the Thalia Theater Hamburg (2000-2009) and the Deutsches Theater Berlin (2009-2023). He is also a professor for dramatic writing at the Berlin University of Arts. He has adapted several novels as well as contemporary texts for the stage.
Run period:
03.09.2024 – 06.09.2024
Course time:
10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Application Deadline:
06.08.2024
Course fee:
EUR 490
Min. number of participants:
13
Max. number of participants:
15
For further information please contact:
summer-courses[at]udk-berlin.de
