DAY 1: Introductions; lecture on Narrative Structure; exposition, retrospective, plants and pay-offs, peripeteia (sudden reversal) building dramatic tension, suspense, scene a faire (the big scene, the moral centre of the play) endings; writing exercises using some of the concepts from the lecture; reading aloud exercises, discussion, task for next day discussed -preparing a short review of a play.

DAY 2: Group presentation: play reviews; lecture on types of plays- the epic, the fairy tale, the psychological drama, farce, the musical, classic NZ plays, new writing; writing exercises and reading aloud; task for next day discussed.

DAY 3: Group presentation: scene presentation; lecture on creating character; "whose journey?" What does your character want?, ways to increase character empathy, protagonists, antagonists and anti-heroes, brothers and sisters, confidantes, stereotypes, playing against type, revealing character through action (ritual, games, fights etc) through soliloquy, through other characters ; writing exercises ; task for next day discussed - write a short character monologue.

DAY 4: Class presentation: character monologues; lecture on dialogue; using language to create a world, move through time, challenge, provoke and explore moral dilemmas, drive the narrative and reveal character; writing exercises, reading and discussing work; preparation for tomorrow's task -write a short scene for two or more actors, prefacing this scene with a paragraph explaining its context.

DAY 5: Preparation for read-through (copying, stapling scripts, casting, rehearsing); reading aloud scenes- other class members to provide written feedback; ways to continue developing your playwriting skills e.g. Victoria, Auckland Theatre Company, Read Raw, Playmarket Studio, Young and Hungry, national competitions, 48 hr film competition.