Curriculum

The OHIO Approach: Structure and Voice

STRUCTURE and VOICE are the twin pillars of the OHIO MFA Playwriting Program.

The OHIO curriculum provides a rigorous education in DRAMATIC STRUCTURE. Practicing the execution of structure begins in first-year Seminar, continues through three years of Workshop and Madness, and culminates in your thesis production. Coursework is designed to challenge you at each step, supporting the need to fail better, as structure gradually becomes second nature.

In an equal and reciprocal relationship to dramatic structure, OHIO coursework emphasizes VOICE. Studying voice is key, beginning with the primal elements that distinguish yours, through how voice invokes image and story, to how voice electrifies both artful revision and adept business practices. At OHIO, we teach that voice sparks every element along the arc of an effective creative process.

The consistently high level of accomplishment manifested by our current students and alumni demonstrates that a superior playwriting education is one buttressed by the twin pillars of structure and voice. Further, the pillars must be tested regularly (~weekly) in front of an audience, and explored intensively in seminars.

The Playwriting Core Curriculum

There are four major components to the MFA curriculum:

Playwrights Workshop

Playwrights Workshop is a part of the practical-based portion of the program, specifically aimed at the development of full-length plays; additionally, Workshop also operates as a forum for the discussion of narrative theory. Workshop consists of weekly readings of plays-in-progress by writers in the program. These rehearsed readings are open to the public and usually draw upon actors from the MFA Actors Training Program and the BFA Performance Program at the School of Theater. After each reading, the workshop members meet in private session to discuss what they experienced. Approximately half of the discussion during this session is in the form of notes and feedback to the writer whose play was read; the other half focuses on playwriting theories and concepts generated by the reading. Students in the MFA Playwriting Program take Playwrights Workshop every semester while in residence at Ohio University.

Playwrights Seminar

Playwrights Seminar is a part of the theory-based portion of the program. In the first year, these classes explore basic theories of dramatic structure and serve as a runway for new work that will eventually move into the Playwrights Workshop. In the second and third year, Playwrights Seminar focuses on the playwright’s voice and process, spotlighting how voice is key to the core elements of playwriting, from generating story to revision technique to business practices. Students in the Professional Playwriting Program must take Playwrights Seminar every semester during their first year. During their second and third year, they must take seminar every semester in residence, except for the student’s final semester when their thesis play is produced.

Playwrights Production

Playwrights Production is a true laboratory for testing narrative theory in front of a live audience. As part of the practical-based portion of the program, it consists of a weekly, informal production of new work by every writer in the program. It begins early in the week with a MFA playwright selecting a theme, style, or concept for the upcoming production. Each writer must then write a three to five-minute play based on that theme, style or concept. Each piece is written, cast, and rehearsed throughout the week in preparation for the Friday night, script-in-hand production with lights and sound and presented before an invited audience. MFA students take Playwrights Production — a.k.a. “Madness” — every semester while in residence at Ohio University.

Annual Playwrights Festival

The Annual Ohio University Playwrights Festival represents the culmination of the work of the writers in the program. Well-known theater professionals are invited as guest mentors to respond to the work of OHIO playwrights. During the festival, first year students present their work in the form of rehearsed sit-down readings. The work of second-year students is presented in the form of script-in-hand workshop productions. Third-year students receive full studio productions. Also during the festival, which is produced primarily by the MFA playwrights themselves, the guest-mentors participate in a private seminar addressing the state of the nation concerning new plays, and offer the MFA playwrights insights on building sustainable careers in the profession.

Click here to review the university web site for the MFA Playwriting Program.

sample schedule

Note: the chart below is a sample, only; it is subject to change.


	90 CREDIT HOURS MINIMUM *
YEAR ONE
FALL		SPRING
THAR 5010 – Intro to Graduate study	3 credits	THAR 5511 – Seminar in Rewriting Techniques and the Ensemble Part I	3 credits
THAR 5510 – Dramatic Writing Seminar I	3 credits	THAR 5521 – Writing for Production II	3 credits
THAR 5520 – Writing for Production I	3 credits	THAR 5531 – First Year Playwrights Workshop II	3 credits
THAR 5530 – First Year Playwrights Workshop	3 credits	Theater Studies Elective	3 credits
Elective	3 credits	Elective	3 credits
Elective	3 credits	Elective	3 credits
	18 credits		18 credits


YEAR TWO
FALL		SPRING
THAR 6510 – Seminar in Contemporary Playwrights	3 credits	THAR 6511 – Seminar in Rewriting Techniques and the Ensemble Part II	3 credits
THAR 6520 – Writing for Production III	3 credits	THAR 6521 – Writing for Production IV	3 credits
THAR 6530 – Second Year Playwrights Workshop	3 credits	THAR 6531 – Second Year Playwrights Workshop	3 credits
Theater Studies Elective	3 credits	Theater Studies elective	3 credits
Elective	3 credits	THAR 6940 – Thesis: Research	3 credits
Elective	3 credits	Elective	3 credits
	18 credits		18 credits


YEAR THREE
FALL		SPRING
THAR 6940 – Thesis: Research	6 credits	THAR 7511 – Seminar in Rewriting Techniques and the Ensemble Part III	3 credits
THAR 7905 – Internship in Playwriting	12 credits	THAR 7521 – Writing for Production VI	3 credits
		THAR 7531 – Third Year Playwrights Workshop	3 credits
		THAR 6960 – Theater Project/Portfolio Thesis	9 credits
	18 credits		18 credits

*The degree minimum is 90 credits, however, a full load for funding purposes is considered to be 108 credits

TO APPLY: Please email us at theater@ohio.edu.