Character: Inner Conflict and Constructed Identities
What are the different approaches to constructing character in our plays? How does the kind of play we’re writing shape our approach to character?
This workshop invites playwrights to enrich their understanding of character by exploring the connection between inner conflict and self-constructed identities, and the extent to which these things influence your character's actions in the larger narrative. We'll also explore different starting points, from constructing psychologically complex characters from the inside-out, to the more formal approach of understanding character function within the overarching structure of your play.
This two-hour online workshop will combine guided discussion and practical exercises, enabling participants to examine how flaws, wants and needs shape your characters' journey through the narrative of your play.
- Explore different approaches to constructing character
- Enrich your understanding of character flaws, wants and needs
- Develop your characters arc of change
No preparation required. Open to early-career and mid-career playwrights. Participants who sign-up will receive a Zoom link via email at least 48-hours before the workshop start time.
Lee Anderson is a writer, dramaturg and workshop leader based in London. He is Literary Associate of the award-winning theatre company Squint, where he recently co-led The Squint Playwriting Award programme in partnership with Stratford East Theatre and Hackney Empire. He is also a Board Member with the Dramaturg’s Network, the UK’s leading arts organisation committed to supporting the professional development of freelance dramaturgs’.
As a writer, his work has won The Stage Award (Molly, Pleasance Courtyard, Edfringe, 2015) and has been staged at The Pleasance, New Diorama Theatre, Old Red Lion, Camden People’s Theatre and Charing Cross Theatre. He has been a script reader for the Bush Theatre, Finborough Theatre and Park Theatre, and led workshops in writing and dramaturgy for Arcola Theatre, University of West London, Guildhall, and Birkbeck, University of London, and supported the development of hundreds of new scripts as a freelance dramaturg.
"Lee is a terrific dramaturg. He gave me the exact balance of encouragement and provocation that I needed. I can't recommend him enough” - Brad Birch, playwright and recipient of the Harold Pinter commission 2016.