From the Page to the Stage
Saturday, April 13, 2019 ~ 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
On April 13, Shasta College Theatre Department Professor Jessica Fletcher Wiechman will present a beginner’s guide to playwriting. Wiechman will explain that while plays and novels have the same underlying story structure and equally engaging character development and themes, the approach to writing and the final product that emerges from each process are very different. This presentation will focus on the aspects of storytelling and the specific skills that a playwright must master in order to write a successful stage play. Jessica will cover a number of topics that set theatre apart from novels, including: The basic layout and format of a script, character development through dialogue and action; character objectives, conflict and changing tactics that create strong character arcs; different types of theatre spaces and the strengths and weaknesses of each; common practices and steps for “workshopping” new plays; finding freedom in handing over artistic and technical control and collaborating successfully with a team. This presentation aims to give writers the basic tools and confidence to take their ideas “From the Page to the Stage.”
Jessica Fletcher Wiechman received her bachelor’s degree in Dramatic Art from UC Santa Barbara where she won the Corwin Award for Best Student Written One-Act for her original play, Spontaneous Combustion, later produced at the Actor’s Gang Theatre in Los Angeles. She has served as a US Delegate at the International Young Playwrights Festival in Townsville, Australia. She earned her Master’s in Script Writing at Victoria University of Wellington, with the completion of her stage play, Two Little Blackbirds.
Jessica has lived in Redding for 12 years where she contributes to, and collaborates with, Redding’s theater community. She has worked as a script writer, actor, director, and stage manager for Axiom Repertory Theatre, The Cascade Theatre, Riverfront Playhouse, Harris Studios and Shasta College. Jessica recently wrote the script for Curtain Up, a full-length documentary film about the Historic Cascade Theatre. As a professor in the Shasta College Theatre Department, she teaches script analysis, playwriting and acting, among other theatre courses. She is the founder and facilitator of Shasta College Original Plays experiment (SCOPE), a free public script reading of student-written original plays, celebrating students as emerging playwrights and exposing them to a large local audience. She is also a proud member of the Dramatist’s Guild.
Writers Forum meets from 10:30am – 12:30pm monthly (except for July and August) in the All Saints Episcopal Church Memorial Hall located at 2150 Benton Drive, Redding, CA. Doors open at 10am. The public is welcome to get acquainted with two free visits before joining. Annual membership dues are $25.
Keep checking this site for more information on future program content as it becomes available. For further information about Writers Forum, email writersforumprogramchair@gmail.com
