Romantic Comedy (Winter 2021)

Romantic Comedy! (Winter 2021)

Feb. 6 - Mar. 20
1:00pm - 4:00pm Central Time

Instructor: Mary Ruth Clarke

For screenwriters, playwrights, or teleplay writers, this is a class about the romance and comedy of searching for love, falling in love, being in love, staying in love…and maybe even failing in love. Romantic comedy is both ancient and shiny new.   In our evolving times, between technology and the freedom to love whomever one chooses and in whatever form that takes, writers have a wonderful opportunity to express what romantic comedy means now.  

We will do a deep dive into what makes for a successful romantic comedy, in all its iterations.  What are the particular demands of the genre? We’ll examine case studies of successful rom com plays, screenplays, and television shows.  

And the majority of each session will be spent on student’s romantic comedy ideas, outlines, character development, and scripts in progress. 

Mary Ruth Clarke co-wrote and starred in the original Meet the Parents and co-adapted it into the blockbuster version, starring Robert De Niro. Her dramedy teleplay Broadway, Ohio is under a short option, and has also advanced to the second round at the Sundance Episodic Lab 2020. Her play Bonhoeffer’s Cost just finished a run at The Agape Actors Co-op in Austin, Texas and has been produced at the Beacon Theater in Philadelphia, and the Provision Theater in Chicago.  Agape also produced her farce Suffer The Long Night, co-written with her “Meet The Parents" partner, Greg Glienna. Suffer The Long Night was also produced in Los Angeles at Meta Theater.

Her play Address Unknown was produced in Chicago by 20% Theater Company, and was also produced by Fury Theater.  Her solo performance, I Could Kill Him For Dying, ran at Three Cat Productions in Chicago.  Her play Zap:  An Unauthorized History of the Microwave Oven has been produced five times around the country.  Her almost one-woman musical, Fay Burns! had a 28 Hour Workshop.

20% Early Bird Registration Discount Available when students register by December 1, 2020 

Classes will be held via Zoom. Instructors will send out Zoom invites one day before class begins. We encourage students to setup a Zoom account for themselves before class if they have not already to ensure when class begins you are able to jump straight into the art!