1958 — 2008

Celebrating

50 Years!

Season and Ticket Information

Where's My Money?

The Twelfth Annual

Playwrights' Festival

As You Like It

Shakespeare in the Park

The Conference of the Birds

Classes and Workshops

We offer theatre classes and workshops. KCP members receive a discount on workshop fees.

Works-In-Progress — KCPT’s newest monthly program provides a forum for local playwrights to hear their work read aloud and receive feedback. (See details in box below.)

Playwriting Workshop — In collaboration with the PT Arts Commission, a nationally
recognized playwright conducts a free workshop. Past playwrights have included Constance Congdon and Gip Hoppe. Details on the 2008 Playwright workshop...

Youth Theatre Classes — In collaboration with the Youth Arts Council and Northwind Arts Alliance, summer classes are offered for youth ages 8 and up. Read more below...

Playwrights' Works-In-Progress

Local Playwrights are invited to participate in Key City Public Theatre’s monthly Works-In-Progress program, a chance for local playwrights to hear their working scripts read and receive feedback. This program is designed to provide a supportive atmosphere to develop playwrights’ skills, to enable them to hear their work out loud, to hear other writers’ work, and to gain insight from feedback presented.

We encourage interested playwrights to attend each month even if you don't have material prepared — come and be a part of the process!

A MODERATOR is provided to facilitate the feedback session. PLAYWRIGHTS CAST THE PLAYS from among those present, including playwrights. Actors from KCPT are available to read (by invitation only), usually two women and two men each month.

Works-In-Progress is a FREE SERVICE TO KCPT MEMBERS, or provided for a suggested sliding fee of $2 to $5 per session for non-members.

Works-In-Progress is held the fourth Wednesday of every month. Email Deb Wiese with questions or to register for this event, dwiese55@yahoo.com,

— The Playwrights' Works-In-Progress Committee
Denise Winter, Deb Wiese, Art Reitsch, Flip Wingrove, and DD Wigley

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The Playwrighting Workshop for 2008 has taken place. The information remains here as an example of our on-going classes and workshops.

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2008 Playwrighting Workshop with Mara Lathrop

Internationally known playwright offers free workshop June 28

Mara Lathrop teaches annual Port Townsend Playwrights Festival workshop

Internationally produced playwright and teacher Mara Lathrop offers a playwriting workshop in Port Townsend on Sat., June 28, from 1-4 p.m. at the Pope Marine Building . The annual workshop is sponsored by the Port Townsend Arts Commission and is free and open to the public; pre-registration is not required.

Lathrop is an award-winning playwright living part-time in Port Townsend and part-time in Italy . Her full length plays have received productions in New York , Chicago , Los Angeles , Seattle , Toronto and Rome . Lathrop served as a judge for the 2007 One Act Play Competition and went on to serve as dramaturg for the 2008 Playwrights’ Festival with Key City Public Theatre. Her play, “The Visible Horse” (originally developed at the National Playwrights Conference), will be featured in KCPT’s 2008 WordPlay Reading Series in October.

Other plays by Lathrop include “The Urn of Drew” (finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and developed at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference), “Hell on Wheels” (commissioned by the Philadelphia Festival Theatre), “The Eighteenth Mitzvah” (winner of the Richard Hugo House New Play Prize), “Dreams of Baby” (named Best New Play in the 1993 Seattle Times Footlight Awards), and “The Six Basic Rules” (winner of the Mill Mountain Theatre New Play Prize).

From 1998-2004, Lathrop taught playwriting at the University of Washington . She has received fellowships from the Washington State Arts Commission, the Seattle Arts Commission, and Artists Trust. “The Visible Horse” is published by Smith & Kraus in the collection Women Playwrights: Best Plays of 2001. She is currently developing her newest play, “The Garden of Monsters,” at the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. The play recently received a New York workshop performance and is being considered for a full New York production.

“It is truly inspiring to have a playwright of her caliber here in Port Townsend participating in our local theatre scene,” KCPT Artistic Director Denise Winter says of Lathrop. “Our numerous aspiring playwrights will certainly benefit from her ‘working’ knowledge.”

At the June 28 workshop, Lathrop will incorporate group and individual writing playwriting exercises and will include a homework assignment that may result in a short play. Her instruction is geared to all skill levels.

The Port Townsend Arts Commission sponsors this playwriting workshop each year as part of the annual Playwrights’ Festival. Past instructor/playwrights have included Constance Congdon and Gip Hoppe.

Guidelines for the 2008 One Act Play Competition will be available at the workshop. The competition is open to Jefferson County playwrights writing original one-act plays. Winning plays will be produced by Key City Public Theatre in spring 2009 as part of the 13^th Annual Playwrights’ Festival.

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Workshops at Kaleidoscope Summer Camp

Key City Public Theatre will offer theatre workshops for youth at this year's Kaleidoscope Summer Camp, July 14 - 25, 2008. Students ages 8 and up may choose to enroll in the theatre classes separately or may be interested in attending the entire arts camp.

For Kaleidoscope camp details visit the Youth Arts Council website: www.kaleidoscopeyoutharts.org.

Information on enrolling in KCP's youth theatre classes or the Kaleidoscope arts camp will be available in the near future. Please check back for updates.

The following Kaleidoscope youth theatre classes will be taught by Artistic Director, Denise Winter and Key City Public Theatre' s actress Christina Carpentier:

Improvisational Theatre

Instructor: Christina Carpentier

8 – 10 Age Group

1.25 hours/day

Come join the fun of improv! Start at the very beginning and learn about the world of theater. Create characters and act out stories using comedy, movement, and facial expression. Students in this exciting class create and present their own short play at the end of the week.

Beginning Musical Theatre- Acting Techniques (*)

Instructor: Christina Carpentier

11 and up Age Group

1.5 hrs/day

This class explores acting techniques, scene study, and characterization work. Students will focus on scenes and monologues from Musical Theatre. Students will build confidence while learning the basics acting and musical theatre .

(*) Students taking this class are encouraged to further explore these performance techniques by enrolling in Beginning Musical Theatre – Performance. Not required. Additional Musical Theatre classes in singing and dance may be offered.

Beginning Musical Theatre – Performance (**)

Instructors: Christina Carpentier and Denise Winter

11 and up Age Group

2 hours/day

Students will apply techniques from the Beginning Musical Theatre acting class, enhancing their performance skills as they learn to handle the challenges of a musical theatre production. Exploring elements of musical theatre from character analysis and development to singing and movement, these young actors will prepare a performance excerpted from Working, the musical adapted by Stephen Swartz and Nina Faso from the book by Studs Terkel.

(**) Students who wish to take this class must also be enrolled in Beginning Shakespeare – Acting Technique.

Instructor biographies

Christina Carpentier received her Associates Degree in music theatre and voice from Muhlenberg College where she was also the Improvisational Instructor for Life-Line Theatre. Christina has 15 years onstage experience at both professional and non-professional venues. For the last 2 years she has been the Drama Instructor at Blue Heron Middle School in Port Townsend, directing their productions of Annie and Peter Pan. Christina has appeared onstage with Key City Players in The Threepenny Opera and as Bianca in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at Chetzemoka Park.

Denise Winter received her BA in drama and english at Kenyon College. Denise has 20 years professional theatre experience and has served on the artistic staff of 6 Tony Award-winning regional theatres including 5 ½ years with Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, MN. At Children’s Theatre Company, she was responsible for the casting of all young actors ages 8 – 18. Denise has performed in 48 states, Canada and China with companies such as New York City Opera, American Repertory Theatre and Radio City (Music Hall) Entertainment. As of May 2005, Denise is the Artistic Director of Key City Public Theatre in Port Townsend where she directed the Northwest premiere of A New War last season.

Information on enrolling in KCP's youth theatre classes or the Kaleidoscope arts camp will be available in the near future. Please check back for updates.

Key City Public Theatre

is funded in part by a generous grant from the Port Townsend Arts Commission.

Key City Public Theatre

is a member of:

PT Chamber of Commerce

PT Main Street Association

Theatre Puget Sound (TPS)

Washington State Community Theatre Association (WSCTA)

and partners with:

PT Youth Arts Council