By the 1980s Ivan was teaching Playwriting solo, but it was not until the late ‘90s that he was able to add another section or an advanced course. During that era, Playwrights Workshop was born: One weekend a year, playwrights and audiences gathered in the Gizmo, the Common Room, or Studio Theatre to hear the work generated in classes. Usually, the playwrights gathered a group of actors together and directed the readings themselves.

Upon Ivan’s retirement, Professor of Theatre Neil Blackadder took over teaching Playwriting until 2009 when Robin Metz recruited novelist, playwright and screenwriter Sherwood Kiraly, also a Knox alum (who had taken Playwriting with Sam Moon!), to come to Knox to lead workshops in a variety of forms as Distinguished Writer in Residence.

Over the next ten years, course offerings in Beginning Playwriting doubled and other courses debuted, such as Playwriting/Screenwriting and crossover courses bringing fiction writers into the discipline of writing for actors. Soon the work coming out of the playwriting classes was bursting at the seams and the once-yearly staged readings became once-a-term and moved into a permanent home in the Studio Theatre as part of the annual Knox Theatre Presents season.

With the emergence of a more robust Directing curriculum, student directors now gain key pre-professional experience with text and actors by directing the staged New Plays Workshop readings, and playwrights are able to hear their work prior to revision, interpreted by a director and a cast. Playwrights also gain the opportunity to dialogue with an audience to learn what is clearly working in their plays – and what is not.

The New Plays Workshop process is invaluable to student writers, some of whom see their characters embodied in an audience setting for the first time – and all of whom benefit from working with actors, directors, and each other.