Practical Information
Class given by the artist-facilitator: Nick Carpenter
Dates: Wednesdays, from September 24 to November 26, 2025 (no break for Thanksgiving)
Age requirement: Participants must be 18 years or older on the date of the activity
Prerequisite experience: No experience required
Price: $325.00 (plus taxes)
Questions about the class? Contact us: courspublics@ent-nts.ca
Notes: This class is offered in English
Class Description
Free Writing is, at its core, a writing class. Each session is built around a prompt designed to help students generate ideas, access fresh sources of creativity, ignite new projects, or make progress on scripts already underway.
Although the class focuses on discovering or expanding one’s theatrical voice, all forms of writing (prose, poetry, memoir, etc.) may emerge from a given prompt.
Writers of all levels of experience and backgrounds are welcome! The purpose of Free Writing is not to write “well” but to explore. By the end of each class, students will have produced a completely unanticipated — and perhaps even surprising — piece of work to contemplate, celebrate, and build upon.
The ritual of sharing one’s freshly written material with fellow students, while not obligatory, is an inspiring and informative feature of the class. Part of each session is devoted to this sharing, in an atmosphere of friendly curiosity, mutual respect, and collective discovery.
There is no right or wrong way to engage with a Free Writing prompt. That said, a spirit of adventure never hurts in the act of creation.
Artist-Facilitator: Nick Carpenter
As a composer, arranger, and stage musician, Nick has collaborated with the National Arts Centre, the National Theatre School of Canada, Centaur Theatre, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Lucion Media, Repercussion Theatre, Skeels Danse Montréal, Geordie Theatre, CAM en tournée, The Theatre Centre, Imago Theatre, Infinitheatre, Concordia University, the National Circus School, McGill University, the University of Ottawa, the METAs (Montreal English Theatre Awards), Hudson Village Theatre, Théâtre Lac Brome, Third Wall, Théâtre Urbi et Orbi (Urban Tales), TF1 Rock’n’Roll Circus, Monastère Cabaret de Cirque, as well as festival productions and concerts for Magnetic North, SummerWorks, Undercurrents, WildSide, Tendance Clown (Marseille), and the Festival de Clowns de Montréal.
Nick has been nominated for two METAs (Montreal English Theatre Awards) for his work as a musician and supporting actor.
Nick is also a writer. His plays, radio plays (CBC), short stories, and librettos have been presented across Canada, the U.S., and Germany. His play Arco took second place in Infinitheatre’s 2021 Write-on-Q Competition. He wrote the screenplay for 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 LibLab, the Banff Playwrights’ Colony, Theatre Centre Residency, and Writers’ Units at NAC/GCTC and Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal.
Nick teaches and coaches at the National Theatre School of Canada. He has also worked as a dramaturg for PWM (Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal), NACO (National Arts Centre Orchestra), and JMC (Jeunesses Musicales Canada), where he also creates staging (mise en scène) for touring concerts.
Nick is the co-founder of Summersett (summersettband.com).
