Category Archives: Training

Instructor: Y York
Instructor Bio: Award-winning playwright Y York is currently working on new plays for People’s Light and Theatre Company and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Her play Accidental Friends will tour this fall as part of the Playhouse’s Off the Hill program. She has written over forty plays which have been produced across the English-speaking world; twenty-five of them have been published. Y has taught playwriting classes and workshops since 1993 at the University of Washington, Freehold Theatre School (Seattle), Arizona State University, Ko`olau Writers Workshop (Kane`ohe, Hawai`i), Bamboo Ridge Tri4Write (Honolulu), Kumu Kahua Theatre (Honolulu), The Last Frontier Playwriting Conference (Alaska), Sarah Lawrence College, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and online. For more info on the playwright, visit www.yyork.com.

Mondays, 6:30-9:00 PM
8 sessions, 2½ hours
September 10, 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29
Fee: $285; $250 early bird discount for registration before August 27

The goals of this class are twofold: one, to write action-driven dialogue that reflects character; and two, to enable the writer to keep going when inspiration wanes. The class can be taken by a beginner, but will also be satisfying to the seasoned playwright. There will be in-class writing exercises and at-home writing assignments that students will read in class.

Preparation. We will not read previously-written work, but writers may use their existing characters and situations in the exercises. Bring paper and pens, not computers or recording devices. Be thinking about at least two characters who know one another and their context.

Register online at www.cincyplay.com or call 513.421.3888.

If improv is your thing, or if you’ve always wanted to test the waters, here’s a great opportunity!

Instructor: Kevin Crowley
Kevin Crowley returned to Cincinnati in 2006 from Los Angeles where he worked primarily in TV including CSI, Reba, Without a Trace, Murphy Brown, Drew Carey, Malcolm in the Middle and Boy Meets World. Film credits include: Major League, Suicide Kings and The Package. In Chicago, he was with The Second City for nine years as an actor, writer and director and also appeared with the Steppenwolf, Northlight and Victory Gardens theaters. Other credits include War Music at the David Geffen Theater (LA, Ovation Award) and Of Mice and Men (Cincinnati Playhouse & St. Louis Repertory Theatre, Acclaim Award) and Opus (Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Entertainment Award. He is currently on faculty at CCM Preparatory Department and has taught at NKU and Xavier University.

Beginning Improvisation
Mondays, 6:30-8:00 PM
4 sessions, 1½ hours
September 10, 17, 24, October 1
Fee: $150/$120, early bird discount for registration before August 27
Have fun while performing without a script in a safe, “no fail” environment. This introduction to basic improv rules, theory and games not only strengthens acting skills, it improves public speaking, non-verbal communication and self-confidence. The challenges of the class will be defined by the level and experience of the students.

Intermediate Improvisation
Mondays, 6:30-9:00 PM
4 sessions, 2 ½ hours
October 8, 15, 22 & 29 with a performance on Monday, November 5
Fee: $150/$120, early bird discount for registration before August 27
This class develops students’ improvisation skills towards actual performance. Students will deepen their knowledge of improv games and structures. It will culminate in an improv performance for family, friends and the public on the Rosenthal Plaza stage at the Playhouse. Enrollment in this class is limited to students with prior experience with permission of the instructor. Our hope is to see this class grow into an actual improv troupe, with guest teachers and improv sessions