Challenges of Dialogue with Matthew Paul Olmos
Classes Will be held Virtually
June 6th-July 25th; no class on July 4th or 18th
Mondays 7:30-10:30
For the playwright, dialogue is one of the key ways to express character, relationships, and the world of the play. Through a series of exercises led by Matthew Paul Olmos, you’ll hone your skills of dialogue writing in order to engage your audiences in a more meaningful way. In this class you will:
-Complete exercises exploring the tools of dialogue, specifically addressing characterization, exposition, over-writing, rhythm, and subtext.
-Engage in discussion with fellow writers; making connections with your artistic peers.
By the end of this class you will:
-Have the tools to create engaging, fully-formed dialogue that will compel audiences to lean into your work.
-A strong understanding of dialogue and be ready to apply it.
Crafting plays is full of many moving parts and dialogue often goes overlooked in coursework and classes; having this unique course dedicated wholly to dialogue is a wonderful opportunity to hone in on a precise tool for your writer’s toolbox.
This course has been taught by Mr. Olmos at the Dramatists Guild Institute, The Kennedy Center’s Summer Intensive, and Primary Stages Einhorn School of Performing Arts.
For the playwright of any level looking to deepen your work and enhance your dialogue skills.
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Matthew Paul Olmos is a Mexican-American playwright who focuses his work on the creation of space for marginalized and underrepresented communities. While always personal, his work is aimed at reaching across socio’political boundaries, showing the ridiculous of how separate our lives, and illuminating a potential hope for future generations.
He is a three-time Sundance Institute Fellowship/Residency recipient, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival Commissioned Playwright, New Dramatists Resident Playwright, Center Theatre Group LA Playwright Workshop Writer, Geffen Playhouse Writers Room Playwright, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab Playwright, inaugural Primary Stages Creative Development Grantee, Princess Grace Awardee in Playwriting, Arizona Theatre Company’s National Latino Playwriting Awardee, Ojai Playwrights Conference playwright, Repertorio Español Miranda Family Nuestra Voces Playwriting Awardee, inaugural Yale Drama Series Short List playwright, Cherry Lane Mentor Project playwright as chosen by Taylor Mac, and La MaMa e.t.c.’s Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright Awardee as selected by Sam Shepard.
He spent two years as a Mabou Mines/SUITE Resident Artist being mentored by Ruth Maleczech and is a former New York Theatre Workshop’s Emerging Artist Fellow, Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist in Residence, Dramatists Guild Fellow, Humanitas Play LA Workshop Playwright, Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer, Brooklyn Arts Exchange Resident Artist, INTAR H.P.R.L Playwright, Rising Circle Collective Playwright, terraNOVA Collective’s Groundbreakers Playwright; he is also an Echo Theater Company Resident Playwright, a proud Kilroys nominator, and an Ensemble Studio Theater lifetime member.
His work has been presented both nationally and internationally, taught in university, and is published by Samuel French and NoPassport Press. He is a proud three-time Kilroys nominator.
He is currently developing a play with music inspired by Samantha Power’s “The Education of An Idealist” for Geffen Playhouse’s Writers Room and Theatre For One’s Solo Collective; and a new play, for Primary Stages’ Creative Development Grant, inspired by Mendez v. Westminster, about the building of Mexican schools as part of segregation. His most recent play a home what howls (or the house what was ravine) was named to the inaugural Yale Rep Short List. He developed a feature with Andrew Lauren Productions and is developing a screenplay inspired by his play THAT DRIVE THRU MONTEREY. www.matthewpaulolmos.com.