​JAnuary 8-11, 2024 at Marfa JUNIOR High School

WITH RACHEL TATE

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Marfa Live Arts teaches the playwriting prep workshop to all Marfa Junior High students. This program serves as the preparatory course to the high school’s more advanced Marfa Live Arts Playwriting Program which is taught each year. The Playwriting Prep Program goals are to teach all MISD seventh and eighth grade students the basics of writing dramatic form while developing critical thinking skills and self-confidence. Winning monologues will be brought to life by Marfa actors at the Winter Theater Showcase in February.

Rachel Esther Tate is an Equity Actor and has appeared on stage at the Arena Stage, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory and commercial Off-Broadway runs. With a passion for new work Tate has workshopped and developed plays with award-winning playwrights and directors at La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, and more. As an educator, she has taught students from kindergarten to college students in beginner to intensive theatrical, film, and dance training.

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Marfa Live Arts arts educator Rachael Tate who returns for the 2nd  year shares, “Following a week in the classroom playing, exploring and excavating our inner monologues, the students and I are so excited to present a showcase of our time together. While not every piece could be selected for performance, I was incredibly impressed with the articulation of thought and expression in each of the student’s writing. We took a series of journeys through mental exploration to reach a place of inner knowing to write from; focusing on the things we know to be true about ourselves and what we believe. Each monologue was sprung from the idea of “discovery”, or an "Aha!” moment.” Tate continues, “From the perspectives of unique characters, we asked, what does this character, and we as writers, really need to say?  Using the format of a monologue to communicate from a position of need (I need you to hear) into a place of desire (I want you to know). It’s the telling of a moment so pure and intense that we cannot help but share what we feel, what we are and who we are in that exact moment. The result of that question came through in so many creative and deeply moving articulations which will be performed by local actors in a night of communal storytelling. Come play with us!” One student described what he liked best about the workshop, “To be honest there
was a lot that really let me express myself in these pieces of writing. It let me talk about different things that I enjoy and things that I cherish with great pleasure. And finally, the awareness and positivity that I gained is immeasurable.”

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