Plainview Students Learn to Play-Write

Submitted by Plainview-Old Bethpage School District

Students at Plainview-Old Bethpage School District’s John F. Kennedy High School recently learned the basics of playwriting from award-winning writer and theater educator Daniel Judah Sklar.

Students and English teachers participated in workshops that emphasized the purpose of creating fictional characters for playwriting. Sklar has taught “playmaking,” his technique for helping children write and perform their own plays, at institutions such as Yale School of Drama and has won the Distinguished Book Award for his book, PLAYMAKING: Children Writing and Performing Their Own Plays from the American Alliance of Theatre and Education.

The workshop was arranged through the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Partners in Education Program. The program connects students with Hofstra University and the Gold Coast Arts Center to provide professional learning in the arts for teachers.

Photo 1: Students at Plainview-Old Bethpage School District’s John F. Kennedy High School learn the purpose of creating fictional characters for playwriting from award-winning writer and theater educator Daniel Judah Sklar through the school’s Performing Arts’ Partners Education Program.