Playwrights Theatre’s Creative Arts Academy Fall Classes for Kids, Teens and Adults

Aug. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- **Photos Available**

(Madison, NJ) Playwrights Theatre’s Creative Arts Academy fall classes for kids, teens and adults will begin at the end of September. The Kids and Teen classes will be held at Madison High School, 170 Ridgedale Ave Madison, NJ. The Adult class will be held at Playwrights Theatre Administrative Offices, 28 Walnut Street, Madison. For more information and to register visit http://www.ptnj.org or call 973-514-1787 X21.

Playwrights Theatre Creative Arts Academy classes are an opportunity for students at all levels of experience to bring their imaginations to life, while practicing basic performance and writing skills. Students work collaboratively with their peers creating characters and telling stories while building the confidence needed to enjoy creative freedom. Most classes conclude with a “sharing” of class work for family and friends.

Playwrights Theatre’s classes are taught by professional instructors who are working actors, directors, writers and artistic directors. The intimate class sizes allow individuals to explore in a safe, non-judgmental environment and insures of individual attention is given to each participant.

“Playwright's Theater classes reach children of many different skill and interest levels. The teaching artists create a nurturing, yet challenging, environment while assisting children in uncovering and developing abilities they didn't know they had. It serves as a wonderful outlet for creativity, enhances confidence and demands teamwork. Children come away with a skill set that can be broadly applied to life's ‘stage’. The lessons here are priceless!” said Lori Ann Cox, Creative Arts Academy parent.

Playmakers (Grades 1-3)
Theatre games, pantomime and improvisation provide an exciting means for learning basic performance skills through movement, voice and imagination, in an engaging and nurturing environment designed for children to create and express themselves. Together students create a play which they present to parents and friends on the last day of class.

Saturdays, 10:00am-12:00pm
September 29 – December 15, 2012
(No class on November 10 and November 24)
Tuition: $275 ($250 for returning students)

Musical Performance (Grades 4-8)
Build skills in using the "actor's instruments" in an energized and encouraging environment. While exploring sound and movement through singing, dancing and acting, students learn about breathing, rhythm, projection and timing. Students create their own short musical for presentation to parents and friends on the last day of class.

Saturdays, 10:00am-12:00pm
September 29 – December 15, 2012
(No class on November 10 and November 24)
Tuition: $275 ($250 for returning students)

Get Ready to Audition (High School)
Whether you’re auditioning for college theatre programs, professional theatres, high school or community theatre productions, good audition skills are a must, and practice with good guidance is the only way to get there. This four-session intensive will improve your ability to select and present monologues and songs that will show you off at your best. The final class will consist of a simulated audition and subsequent critique session.

This class consists of four, two-hour sessions. Dates and times are tailored to fit student’s schedule. Call the Education Department to schedule at 973-514-1787 X21.

Playwriting Workshop (grades 6-12)
Have a play you are working on? Planning on entering the New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest, the National Young Playwrights Contest or other contests? You can work with a professional writer to get your script ready to go.

This class consists of four, two-hour sessions. Dates and times are tailored to fit student’s schedule. Call the Education Department to schedule at 973-514-1787 X21.

Adult Playwriting Workshop
Taught by Playwrights Theatre's Artistic Director (and 2012 NJ State Council on the Arts Playwriting Fellowship winner) John Pietrowski, this will be a basic workshop class where students share work in a supportive environment. Enrollment is open to students of all levels of experience, classes will provide exercises to beginners working on their first play as well as experienced writers who are further down the road.

Mondays, 7:00-10:00pm
October 22 – January 7, 2013
(No class December 24 and December 31)
Tuition is $275 ($250 for returning students)
Can't join this class on the first day? Pro-rated options available for late starts for this class only.

For more information and to register, visit www.ptnj.org or call the Education Department for more details 973-514-1787 X21.

Playwrights Theatre Creative Arts Academy teaches classes year-round for children, teens and adults. The Creative Arts Academy is committed to nurturing independent thinking, artistic and personal development through the literary and performing arts. At the Creative Arts Academy, students are part of a community where self-expression and creativity thrive and every person is a valuable member of the whole. Playwrights Theatre’s Creative Arts Academy strives for artistic excellence while emphasizing the creative process, both of which are vital to the personal, social and academic evolution of students of all ages. Creative Arts Academy instructors are highly experienced professional artists who are perceptive and dynamic in the classroom. Creative Arts Academy teachers are committed to developing their own skills, as well as those of their students, and to refining their artistry through continued practice and education. For additional information or to register, visit www.ptnj.org or call (973) 514-1787, ext. 21.

About Playwrights Theatre
Founded in 1986, Playwrights Theatre is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit professional theatre and arts education institution dedicated to developing and nurturing the dramatic imagination of artists, students, and audiences. Our New Play Program creates development opportunities for professional writers through readings, workshops and productions, and invites audiences to participate in authentic feedback experiences. Our New Jersey Writers Project, Poetry Out Loud, New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest and Festival, and Creative Arts Academy programs provide a comprehensive and hands-on arts education experience to over 31,000 students, Pre-K through adult.

Writers in the New Play Program are drawn from across the country, including our affiliation with the National New Play Network, a nation-wide group of theatres dedicated to the development and production of new work. Teaching Artists in our Education Programs are professional artists working in their field in the New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. From 2003-2012, we have been designated a Major Arts Institution by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (along with only four other theatres: The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, George Street Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center and Paper Mill Playhouse) as “an anchor institution that contributes vitally to the quality of life in New Jersey.”

Funding for our activities comes from: the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the F.M. Kirby Foundation, Inc., Dramatist Guild Fund, Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, The Shubert Foundation, Travelers, The Victoria Foundation, and many corporations, foundations and individuals.

Playwrights Theatre is a member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, the National New Play Network, and Madison Arts & Culture Alliance.