Calamity West is a Chicago-based, award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays have appeared at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout, The Goodman Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, Steep Theatre, and TimeLine – to name a few. She holds a BA in dramatic writing from Webster University and an MFA in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She teaches playwriting and literature at her alma mater of Webster University and playwriting at the University of Chicago. In 2018 she founded the Playwrights Lab at Jackalope Theatre where she is a proud company member. In 2014 she won the 3Arts Award in theatre. Calamity is currently developing her newest play "The Last Supper and Three Years Later" with The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York as recipient of the Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission. West is represented by Di Glazer at CAA. You can learn more about Calamity by going to calamitywest.com
Calamity West
Courses
TAPS 24050 New Play Development: Playwrights and Dramaturgs
This class explores the new play development process from first to second draft and will culminate in a staged reading at the end of the quarter. All the roles of a traditional production process will be a part of this class, with students serving as: playwrights, directors, actors, and dramaturgs. What happens once the playwright is ready to invite in collaborators to develop a script? How does each person bring their unique point of view to the play? How can this process serve both the play and the artists involved? The class is studying the art, theory and process of development as well as working on our feet to try our hands at what we are discovering. We will work to develop student plays in which a first draft is already written. Playwrights with a complete, first draft of a play are encouraged to submit their work for this course and will be selected the quarter before this course is offered. To apply, please send your script and note of introduction to ddemayo@uchicago.edu. Students interested in taking on any of the other designated roles of a production team (actors, directors, dramaturgs) should select either TAPS 20450 New Play Development: Playwrights and Dramaturgs OR TAPS 20451 New Play Development: Directors and Actors. Once enrolled, course instructors will assign tasks taking into consideration student interest. For further information on the course or how to enroll, please contact ddemayo@uchicago.edu.
TAPS 24051 New Play Development: Directors and Actors
This class explores the new play development process from first to second draft and will culminate in a staged reading at the end of the quarter. All the roles of a traditional production process will be a part of this class, with students serving as: playwrights, directors, actors, and dramaturgs. What happens once the playwright is ready to invite in collaborators to develop a script? How does each person bring their unique point of view to the play? How can this process serve both the play and the artists involved? The class is studying the art, theory and process of development as well as working on our feet to try our hands at what we are discovering. We will work to develop student plays in which a first draft is already written. Students interested in taking on these designated roles of a production team (actors, directors, dramaturgs) should select either TAPS 20450 New Play Development: Playwrights and Dramaturgs OR TAPS 20451 New Play Development: Directors and Actors. Once enrolled, course instructors will assign tasks taking into consideration student interest. For further information on the course or how to enroll, please contact ddemayo@uchicago.edu. Playwrights with a complete, 8 Theater and Performance Studies first draft of a play are encouraged to submit their work for the companion course TAPS 24050 and will be selected the quarter before this course is offered. To apply, please send your script and note of introduction to ddemayo@uchicago.edu.