Current Offerings
PROGRAM SUMMARY
This program celebrates drawing as a form of storytelling, guiding students through the process of creating a story from beginning to end using a blend of images and words. Students will learn the different elements that make up a story (such as character, plot, and conflict), and different ways they can represent these elements using images to create a story of their own. While this program is great fit for visual learners or visual communicators, there is NO prerequisite for participating students to be artists. In fact, students will be encouraged to get ideas down on the page in clear, quick sketches which can range from single images of stick figures to drawing within storyboard panels to show the sequence of their story.
MORE DETAILS
Students will meet with teaching artist Andre Jones every week to:
By the end of the program, each student will:
This means Visual Playwriting is a great opportunity for students who…
DATES & TIMES:
Lovett Memorial Library
6945 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19119
TWO 5-WEEK SESSIONS AVAILABLE:
Session 1: 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/25, & 4/8, 4:00pm-5:30pm
Session 2: 4/15, 4/22, 4/29, 5/6, and 5/13, 4:00pm-5:30pm
REGISTER FOR LOVETT SESSIONS HERE
Parkway Library Teen Center*
1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Field Teen Center, Ground Floor
ONE DAY ONLY: Wednesday, March 5th, 3:30pm-5:30pm
No registration needed
*This session is for individuals aged 12-18 only
REGISTRATION & TUITION
Thanks to our generous funders, students can participate in this program at no cost to families. If you would like to make an optional donation to Young Playwrights, we invite you to visit our giving page. By choosing "Other Amount" you can make a donation of any size and any donations received will help us continue to offer future programs in the community.
FACILITATOR
Andre N. Jones is a native of Philadelphia. He has been writing poetry since he was in Jr. High School in 1982. He was turned on to poetry through his exposure to Hip-Hop. His poetic interests soon multiplied as he started to correlate Bible metaphors and Shakespeare as similar. From eighth grade on he sought to increase his vocabulary and use his pen to make word paintings on paper. Andre served as the 2013 Emerging Artist in Playwriting for the Delaware Division of the Arts in Wilmington, DE, where he now lives. He has produced/ directed/ and acted in plays all over the Delaware valley and beyond. To his credit he has numerous nominations and awards, including, The 2016 Temple University Dean’s Grant for Creative Development and Research. A lifelong visual artist, Andre has always attempted to make subjects have, an immediacy about them. So it is with his pen. Andre seeks to expand the minds of those who read his works with intelligent wordplay and vivid imagery, verbal color with highlight shadow and texture that feels alive and yet freezes the reader/audience in the moment. That is Mr. Jones’ trademark.
Having over seventeen years experience in various areas of theater, including Acting, Scene Design, Lighting, Directing and Stage Management, He decided to challenge himself with writing. Andre has written several plays yet to be discovered that explore the question of what it is to be human and yet rendered invisible. Some of his plays include: Management, Exhibited, Verbalized Ink, The Alien Ones and A Nation of Millions, (which is an adaptation of the lyrics from Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Album.) Aside from his work as a playwright and performer, Andre has cherished the last decade and change working in different capacities as a Teaching Artist. Teaching his artistry actually defines legacy for Andre. It is extremely important to him that young people feel empowered to become positive contributors to society. If their contributions should happen to be artistic, that would be icing on a well prepared and masterfully baked cake. Seven words define Andre’s life quest. Live, love, learn, laugh, forgive, forget and be free.
Contact: [email protected]
This program celebrates drawing as a form of storytelling, guiding students through the process of creating a story from beginning to end using a blend of images and words. Students will learn the different elements that make up a story (such as character, plot, and conflict), and different ways they can represent these elements using images to create a story of their own. While this program is great fit for visual learners or visual communicators, there is NO prerequisite for participating students to be artists. In fact, students will be encouraged to get ideas down on the page in clear, quick sketches which can range from single images of stick figures to drawing within storyboard panels to show the sequence of their story.
MORE DETAILS
Students will meet with teaching artist Andre Jones every week to:
- Experiment with creating a story using visual and/or written language;
- Practice sequential thinking using storytelling (how the order of what we perceive impacts how we understand and interpret what is witnessed);
- Discover how what we show as storytellers affects the meaning of our story and its impact on our audience (by deciding what to illustrate and what’s said through, alongside and after an illustration).
By the end of the program, each student will:
- Practice illustrative communication skills;
- Develop their storyteller’s voice;
- Practice thinking in sequence (beginning, middle, and end);
- Produce the beginnings of a visual story that’s a blend of drawing and words.
This means Visual Playwriting is a great opportunity for students who…
- Love storytelling (or think they might, in the right setting!)
- Love visual art-making (or think they might, in the right setting!)
- Love writing (or think they might, in the right setting!)
- Have any level of writing and/or art-making experience
- Benefit from regular scheduled time to hang out, draw, and talk about stories
DATES & TIMES:
Lovett Memorial Library
6945 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19119
TWO 5-WEEK SESSIONS AVAILABLE:
Session 1: 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/25, & 4/8, 4:00pm-5:30pm
Session 2: 4/15, 4/22, 4/29, 5/6, and 5/13, 4:00pm-5:30pm
REGISTER FOR LOVETT SESSIONS HERE
Parkway Library Teen Center*
1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Field Teen Center, Ground Floor
ONE DAY ONLY: Wednesday, March 5th, 3:30pm-5:30pm
No registration needed
*This session is for individuals aged 12-18 only
REGISTRATION & TUITION
Thanks to our generous funders, students can participate in this program at no cost to families. If you would like to make an optional donation to Young Playwrights, we invite you to visit our giving page. By choosing "Other Amount" you can make a donation of any size and any donations received will help us continue to offer future programs in the community.
FACILITATOR
Andre N. Jones is a native of Philadelphia. He has been writing poetry since he was in Jr. High School in 1982. He was turned on to poetry through his exposure to Hip-Hop. His poetic interests soon multiplied as he started to correlate Bible metaphors and Shakespeare as similar. From eighth grade on he sought to increase his vocabulary and use his pen to make word paintings on paper. Andre served as the 2013 Emerging Artist in Playwriting for the Delaware Division of the Arts in Wilmington, DE, where he now lives. He has produced/ directed/ and acted in plays all over the Delaware valley and beyond. To his credit he has numerous nominations and awards, including, The 2016 Temple University Dean’s Grant for Creative Development and Research. A lifelong visual artist, Andre has always attempted to make subjects have, an immediacy about them. So it is with his pen. Andre seeks to expand the minds of those who read his works with intelligent wordplay and vivid imagery, verbal color with highlight shadow and texture that feels alive and yet freezes the reader/audience in the moment. That is Mr. Jones’ trademark.
Having over seventeen years experience in various areas of theater, including Acting, Scene Design, Lighting, Directing and Stage Management, He decided to challenge himself with writing. Andre has written several plays yet to be discovered that explore the question of what it is to be human and yet rendered invisible. Some of his plays include: Management, Exhibited, Verbalized Ink, The Alien Ones and A Nation of Millions, (which is an adaptation of the lyrics from Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Album.) Aside from his work as a playwright and performer, Andre has cherished the last decade and change working in different capacities as a Teaching Artist. Teaching his artistry actually defines legacy for Andre. It is extremely important to him that young people feel empowered to become positive contributors to society. If their contributions should happen to be artistic, that would be icing on a well prepared and masterfully baked cake. Seven words define Andre’s life quest. Live, love, learn, laugh, forgive, forget and be free.
Contact: [email protected]
In conjunction with our Play Development Series at Drexel, we are offering a FREE playwriting workshop for ALL AGES (kids and adults welcome!). Based on the themes of one of the student plays, Fight to Stay, the workshop will explore displacement of communities and gentrification. In this introductory playwriting workshop, you will become familiar with the form of playwriting and theater, as well as spark conversation around preserving culture. All materials and light snacks provided. No prior writing experience is necessary to participate.
When: Saturday, February 22nd, 12pm-1:30pm
Where: Community Education Center (CEC), 3500 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (just a five minute walk to the Drexel Theater)
When: Saturday, February 22nd, 12pm-1:30pm
Where: Community Education Center (CEC), 3500 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (just a five minute walk to the Drexel Theater)
While it is not necessary to attend the performance at Drexel afterwards, we highly recommend it! Read more about the Play Development Series here.
