Practical Information
Class given by the artist-facilitator: Nick Carpenter
Dates: Tuesdays, from January 27 to April 7, 2025, 6:15pm to 7:45pm (no class on March 3)
Age requirement: Participants must be 18 years or older on the date of the activity
Prerequisite experience: No prerequisites
Price: $325.00 taxes not included
Notes: This class is offered in English
Questions about the class? Contact us: courspublics@ent-nts.ca
Register today!
Class Description
This course will introduce new and emerging playwrights to the essentials of writing for the stage. A brilliant idea may arrive in a gust of inspiration. But a strong play is built upon solid, well-planned foundations. We’ll explore dramatic structure(s), plot, character, action, conflict with a view to each student crafting a short one-act play by course’s end.
If you already have an idea for a play, or are simply curious about the nexus of story & stage, this course — through vibrant in-class discussion, dynamic exercises, focussed readings, monologuing and dialoguing — will prove an inspiring, anchoring and patient companion for your first steps into the world of playwriting.
Artist-Facilitator: Nick Carpenter
Nick’s plays, radio plays (CBC), short stories and librettos have been presented across Canada, the US, Britain and Germany. Recently a member of PWM’s Cross Cultural Adaptation Lab, he is developing a new work inspired by the Catalonian liturgical drama: El Misteri d’Elx. His play Arco took 2nd place in Infinitheatre’s 2021 Write-on-Q Competition. Nick wrote the screenplay to the film Maz (Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, 2018). His play Stained Glass won the Canadian Peace Play Competition in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Prism International Residency Award (2003). He is an alumnus of Tapestry Opera’s Lib Lab, the Banff Playwrights Lab, Theatre Centre Residency and Writers’ Units at NAC/GCTC and Playwrights Workshop Montreal.
Nick teaches and coaches at the National Theatre School of Canada. As a dramaturg he has worked with PWM (Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal), NACO (National Arts Centre Orchestra), JMC (Jeunesses Musicales Canada) and currently, with Teesri Duniya’s 2025/26 Fireworks program.
Nick has been nominated for two METAs (Montreal English Theatre Awards) for his work as a Musician and Supporting Actor. He enjoys a parallel career as composer, musical director and musician for the stage, and is co-founder of Summersett (summersettband.com).
