Wendy MacLeod’s play “The House of Yes” became an award-winning Miramax film starring Parker Posey. “The Laugh Track,” inspired by the female head writer of “I Love Lucy”, will open at ACT in Seattle in 2021. Her comedy “Slow Food” premiered at Merrimack Repertory Theater and was seen at Geva Theater, Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta, The Dorset Theater Festival and is now being done around the country. Her comedy “Women in Jeopardy!” was commissioned for The Writers’ Room at The Arden Theater, premiered at GEVA and has had over twenty productions around the country. Other plays include: “Sin” (The Goodman, Second Stage), “Schoolgirl Figure” (The Goodman Theatre), “The Water Children and Juvenilia” (Playwrights Horizons) and “Things Being What They Are” (Seattle Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre). Her television pilot “Granite Springs” was recently selected for the Orchard Project’s Episodic Lab, her play “Schoolgirl Figure” was optioned by HBO, and another pilot, “Ivory Tower,” was developed with Diane Keaton and sold to CBS. She recently did the screenplay for “The Shallow End,” a short film now being seen at festivals, including the Adirondack Film Festival, IndieMemphis Film Festival, IndieWorks (Winner: Silver Whiskers Award), NewFilmmakers NY, Deep Cuts Film Festival (Winner: Drama Award) NY Indie Theatre Film Festival, New York No Limits Film Festival and CASCADIA Int’l Women’s Film Festival.
Areas of Expertise
Playwriting, contemporary drama, writing the TV pilot
Education
1987 — Master of Fine Arts from Yale University
1981 — Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College, Phi Beta Kappa
Courses Recently Taught
The fall and spring dance concerts give dancers, choreographers and designers an opportunity to present their work in concert. Advised and directed by dance faculty members and guest artists, these concerts are the culmination of one or two semesters of preparation, rehearsals and regularly scheduled showings of works in progress. In order for students to choreograph for the fall dance concert, students must be enrolled in or have successfully completed DANC 227 or 228. Choreography proposals must be submitted to the dance faculty by the date announced early each semester. Final selection is determined by the dance faculty, with priority given to dance majors and minors. The same selection process is followed for both fall and spring dance concerts. Auditions to dance in either concert are held at the beginning of each semester. All dancers who perform in either concert are required to participate in a dance technique course (DANC 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 208, 209 or 308). Designers are recommended by the design faculty of the Department of Dance, Drama and Film. Please note: DANC 110 audit will only be awarded to those dancers, choreographers and production personnel whose work exhibited high standards. Offered every semester.
The work of this course involves the realization in the theater of the efforts of an important playwright, as expressed in the text for a particular play. Problems in textual analysis, historical research and the creation of a production lead, by way of independent and cooperative activity involving acting, design and special problems, to public performance before an audience. Note: Students who, in the judgment of the instructional and directorial staff, have made significant creative contributions to the effectiveness of the production will have an audit indicated on their academic record.
This course examines how theater differs from other arts and how various theatrical artists bring a play to life. Through a series of creative assignments, we explore what a play is and how it's structured. Assignments consist of a series of playwriting projects and one acting project, which students perform while collaborating with their classmates. Students read at least five plays and a series of essays about the theory and practice of he theater. Each student writes, directs and presents a final short play and takes a final exam. Any student with an interest in the theater will find this a challenging course, regardless of previous experience. Because this course is an introduction to the vocabulary of the theater, it is a prerequisite to most other courses in the department. This counts toward the drama and film majors. No prerequisite. Offered every year.
Students are given weekly exercises exploring dialogue, monologue, exposition, autobiography, process and history as inspiration. The class discusses the resulting short plays in a group critique, after which they are rewritten. In the first semester, students finish with a collection of short plays that can later be developed into longer works. In the second semester, students complete a one-act play, to be performed as a staged reading. Students keep a writer's notebook, do in-class exercises and read a variety of plays relevant to their weekly assignments, including plays by John Guare, Adam Bock, Martin McDonagh, Caryl Churchill and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Students enrolled in this course are automatically added to DRAM 232Y for the spring semester. This counts toward the elements of theater art requirement for the major. Prerequisite: DRAM 111. Offered every year.
Students are given weekly exercises exploring spoken action, autobiography, process, suspense and unsympathetic characters. The class discusses these original short plays in a group critique, after which the student playwright has an opportunity to rewrite. In the first semester, students finish with a collection of short plays that can later be developed into longer works. In the second semester, students complete a one-act play, to be performed as a final staged reading. Students will keep a writer's notebook, do in-class exercises and read a variety of play relevant to their weekly assignments. This counts toward the elements of theater art requirement for the major. Prerequisite: DRAM 111 and 231Y. Offered every year.
This course will focus on plays of the last 20 years by British and American playwrights, taught from the practitioner's perspective. Students will read plays by such writers as Antoinette Nwandu, Caryl Churchill, Jordan Harrison, Martin McDonagh, Bruce Norris, Annie Baker, David Lindsay-Abaire, Amy Herzog, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Matthew Lopez, Alice Birch, Jackie Sibbles Drury, and Sanaz Toossi. Assigned work will include papers, quizzes, reading scenes aloud in class, and an active presence in class discussion. This counts toward the Stage and its Plays requirement for the major. Prerequisite: DRAM 111. Generally offered every third year.
Students develop a full-length play while simultaneously presenting exercises that explore nontraditional narrative: solo performance, found text and site-specific plays. Students look at the work of such writers/performers as Bill Irwin, Jonny Donahoe and Anna Deavere Smith. Students analyze plays by contemporary playwrights such as Will Eno, Doug Wright, Conor McPherson, Paula Vogel, Braden Jacobs-Jenkins, Alice Birch and Caryl Churchill, and examine the reinvention of older plays by contemporary playwrights. The semester culminates in a staged reading of the completed first act of a full-length play. This counts toward the elements of theater art requirement for the major. Prerequisite: DRAM 231Y–232Y. Generally offered every other year.
Individual study in drama is reserved for students exploring a topic not regularly offered in the department's curriculum. Typically, the course carries 0.5 unit of credit. To enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the department willing to direct the project and, in consultation with him or her, write a proposal. The department chair must approve the proposal. The one- to two-page proposal should include a preliminary bibliography and/or set of specific problems, goals and tasks for the course; outline a schedule of reading and/or writing assignments or creative undertakings, and describe the methods of assessment (e.g., a journal to be submitted for evaluation weekly; a one-act play due at semester's end, with drafts due at given intervals; and so on). The student also should briefly describe prior coursework that qualifies him or her for this independent project. At a minimum, the department expects the student to meet regularly with the instructor one hour per week and to submit an amount of work equivalent to that required in 300-level dance and drama courses. Students are urged to begin discussion of their proposed individual study the semester before they hope to enroll, so that they can devise a proposal and seek departmental approval before the deadline.
