Story to Stage:  Turn Your Narrative Into a Play

Instructor:  Kenley Smith

TBA

We all have stories to tell.  The techniques required to bring them to life on stage, however, often are quite different from those used by novelists or short-story writers.  In this three-hour class, you'll be exposed to the basics of dramatic writing, from that elusive first line to character development to dialogue.  Before it's over, you'll even write a page or two of a first draft!

Resident Faculty

Kenley Smith served as the first president of Studio Roanoke’s Board of Directors, and is now Artistic Director.  He is a distinguished graduate of the Playwright's Lab at Hollins University, where he also earned an M.A. in Creative Writing in 1982.  He is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild and teaches playwriting at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA.  His play, Devil Sedan, was featured at the 2008 Great Plains Theatre Conference, took top honors at the 2008 Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights and won the 2009 Joe McCabe Memorial Award from WV Writers, Inc.  His August, 2009, production at Studio Roanoke, The Shade of the Trees, was a finalist at the 2010 Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights.  A native of Beckley, WV, Kenley currently resides on Bent Mountain.

Improv Instructor

Adam Hahn has been practicing long-form improv for five years. In Iowa City, he performed with the troupe Fisheye, then founded, co-directed, and performed with the troupe This Machine.  Since moving to Los Angeles, Adam has studied at iO West (the west-coast satellite of iO Chicago, the legendary theatre and training center formerly known as Improv Olympic). He currently performs as a member of Puddle Jump, and he has been onstage with several other troupes, including Hoodwinked, Truffula Seed(s), Poised, Superclock, and Pulled Pork.  Adam is also an MFA candidate in the Playwright's Lab at Hollins University. His works as a playwright include Dear Abe (produced by Studio Roanoke in 2010, with Adam in the role of Danny) and Frogger (opening at Studio Roanoke in June, 2011). His play, Feedback Loop, premiered in 2010 as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.