"The Birth of Imagination" Playwriting Workshops for Teens

Award-winning playwright Michael Oatman is the instructor of "The Birth of Imagination" Playwriting Workshop Series for Teens at Shore Cultural Centre. 

"In a world in which our children and young people have turned their telephones into a third limb, they are already artists, they are already writers . . . far more than was my generation at the same age. To not turn the daily writing, thinking and creating that our young people generate into sustainable, pieces of art would be a sin.” states Michael Oatman, instructor of the upcoming “The Birth of Imagination” Playwriting Workshop Series for teens at Shore Cultural Centre. Regarding the upcoming series, he shares that "These workshops are specifically designed for young and emerging writers who have yet to fully realize their creative voice.”

Michael Oatman earned an English degree from Cleveland State University and completed his MFA in theater from the Northeastern Ohio Master of Fine Arts Consortium in 2008. He has served as Playwright-In-Residence at Karamu Theater and has won the CPAC Workforce Fellowship, as well as the Cleveland Art Prize in 2010 for Best Emerging Artist and the 2010 Lantern Award for Best Play. Oatman has taught at schools, and directed productions, throughout the region.

The playwriting workshops are loosely based on the groundbreaking work of mythologist, writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbell. Campbell believed that the form of a story could be distilled down to essential parts, making them easy to replicate. The playwriting series will include learning about the major story parts, plot, rules of youth writing, and rewriting.

“The Birth of Imagination” Playwriting Workshop Series is open to teens that will be entering 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade, and will take place May 28th through June 20th, Tuesdays and Thursdays 6pm-7pm, with rehearsals on June 23rd and 24th and performance June 24th.  The cost is $45.00; however, there is an opportunity to apply for a partial payment scholarship. Registration and information can be found at www.shoreculturalcentre.com/programs/theater, or call (216) 289-8578. Shore Cultural Centre is located at 291 E. 222nd Street, Euclid.