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Fuerza-Writing: Developing Performance Text with Marisela Barrera
November 1, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm CST
$140
RESCHEDULED TO: Tues., Nov 1, 8, 15 & 29, 2022, 6:30pm-8:30pm CST
Instructor: Marisela Barrera
Nonmember: $140; Member: $120; Student/Vet/Mil $75
In-Person at Gemini Ink
Ever jot down something on a napkin? Overheard a conversation on the bus that caught your attention? This could be the beginning of a play! Learn how to turn everyday source material into a final performance. In this four-week workshop, we’ll discuss verbatim theater (theater based on people’s spoken words), devised performance (collaborative, often improvised work), and adapting your original short stories or poems into plays. We’ll practice examples of each. You’ll be asked to commit to developing one performance text to be shared in a public reading.
In this course you will gain:
- Strategies to develop source material that leads to compelling playwriting
- Know-how in nontraditional approaches to playwriting
- The opportunity to generate at least one performance text
- An expanded sense of what can make great writing
Who should take this class? Anyone intrigued by the playwriting process or wanting to explore new genres. Writers of all backgrounds and experiences are welcome!
About Marisela Barrera
Marisela Barrera is a Tejana writer and teatrista with MA/MFA degrees in Creative Writing, Literature and Social Justice. Her work has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, HowlRound, The Rivard Report, Concho River Review, Latina Critical Feminism, Out in SA, Texas Matters, The San Antonio Current, Radio Esperanza 101.5 LP-FM, and TheaterJones, among others. She was Artistic Director of Cara Mia Theater, Theater Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, and has performed in Latino cultural centers in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Recent original productions include Tejana Rasquacha at Jump-Start, Ruby Reds, Big Birds y Burras at the Guadalupe, and Tejana Trilogy at Palo Alto College. She teaches writing at Northwest Vista College and is a two-time recipient of the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture Fund for the Arts award. Barrera spins and eats fire with Jump-Start Performance Co., where she is a company and board member. Find her at www.mariselabarrera.com or via “Tejana Rasquacha” on your favorite podcast platforms.
