Character

In partnership with the DC Public Libraries (DCPL), Mosaic will host a series of FREE workshops teaching the basics of playwriting taught by playwright Gethsemane Herron-Coward and actor/writer James J. Johnson. Over three sessions, writers will build upon the neighborhood oral history project already begun by the DCPL, and focus on how to create plays using interviews and oral recordings. A DCPL representative will spend approximately 10 minutes of each workshop familiarizing participants with DCPL’s collection of oral recordings. By the end of the series, participants will have started (if not completed) a draft of their own play based on historical recordings. Week 2: Character- This workshop will explore the creation of character, beginning with the perspective of the actor and translating those discoveries into text creation. Participants will break down the traits, rhythms, word choices and roles of people in their lives and in the world. Participants will then perform a short writing exercise where their characters have to work out a resolution to an imagined scenario.