54-183 Intermediate Playwriting: Character As An Entry Point
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Often, a good play is a seduction. A character is the seducer. Their job is to draw us into their world, to convince us to care about their problems, and to keep us in the theater until the play ends; in short, to empathize with characters. In this course, we will look at the techniques artists use to seduce us--to make us believe in the world they've created, invest time and energy into reading or watching their play, and fall in love with their work--through characterization. In this class, you will learn how to describe the different techniques used by playwrights to build characters, construct characters through action when playwriting, and develop an understanding of your unique voice and perspective as an artist. This course is intended for students who have some experience with creative writing and want to spend a semester focusing more deeply on their playwriting practice, but no prior playwriting course is required. The class is open to both majors and non-majors. In this class, we will read excerpts from contemporary plays by writers like Gracie Gardner, Samah Meghjee, and Sanaz Toossi. We will then meet to discuss how these writers build out character through techniques like monologues, scenes, and worldbuilding, and how you can collect their methods and use them for your own purposes. For the first half of the semester, you will complete a weekly playwriting assignment of about 5-10 pages each week. For the second half of the semester, you will work on a final project, a play between 10 and 90 pages. These characterization tools are foundational craft skills upon which you can build out your own unique writing practice and authorial voice. Whether your preferred medium of artistic expression is writing, performance, design, or something else entirely, learning how to write compelling characters will help you approach your practice with a focus on understanding and empathy.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Fall 2026, Fall 2025
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