with Dr Michael McCall
Playwriting Foundations
When: Sunday, 8th of June 1-4pm
Where: Peter Cowan Writers Centre Inc, Edith Cowan House, Building 20, ECU Joondalup Campus, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup.
Cost: $50 PCWC & eligible WUWA Members, $62 non-members + Humanitix booking fee
Registrations & Payments: Link coming soon. Bookings are essential.
Parking: Free on weekends. Carparks 14 & 8 are closest to the house - you can park in any bay, regardless of signage.
Catering: Light refreshments will be available (tea, coffee, cake). If you have special dietary requirements, please feel free to bring your own snacks if you wish.
Please do not attend the session if you are unwell, have tested positive to COVID-19, are awaiting a test result, or recovering from infection.
Workshop Overview
Michael will conduct a 3-hr workshop to provide overview of the playwriting process. This workshop looks at how you can identify the right questions to ask about characters, structure and spaces that you aspire to create. It examines the engines that drive these dramatic elements. It is anticipated that participants will leave the session with the beginnings of a "toolkit" for dramatic writing. He believes that understanding how to create drama requires an understanding of how the other elements of theatre come into play with the writing.
A lot of knowledge will be delivered in the 3 hours, which will be broad and deep, and that will allow the playwright to learn and adopt skills to apply a critical eye to their own and to other scripts. These developmental workflows and "workarounds" are aimed to help solve problems that inevitably arise as part of a playwright's practice.
Michael originally hails from Glasgow, Scotland, but spent his formative years in Western Australia. Michael has worked as a professional actor, director, producer, writer and dramaturg. He is a graduate of Curtin University (1997), with BA English (Theatre Arts/Creative Writing), as well as a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) Acting Course (2001). In 2008, he completed Honours in Performance Studies, looking at the role the media plays for emerging playwrights, again at Curtin. He completed a Masters in screen directing and screenwriting at the WA Screen Academy (2008-09). He completed a PhD at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2018, examining the methods of director, Mike Leigh. Michael has taught extensively in most aspects of theatre and film over the years, at NIDA, WAAPA/ECU, Curtin and 8 years as Head of Film and Theatre at University of Notre Dame.