Seminar

In Seminar, a provocative play from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck, four aspiring novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon, and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting comedy.

The play dives headfirst into the craft and the business of writing. Writers do not exist in a vacuum; they need editors to help them craft their vision and – hopefully – help them bring that vision to life for an audience of readers. Can that editor be trusted, or is even an editor a potential adversary in the ever diminishing world of fiction publishing? Are your fellow students supportive collaborators, or vindictive competitors? Can a writer only draw from personal experience, or can they reinvent themselves and the world around them?

Rebeck, a celebrated author of plays, TV, and films, does not shy away from difficult issues. Her characters here are unashamedly flawed, and it is in those flaws that we see their humanity. Ultimately, this provides the underlying message of Seminar – that everyone, no matter how egregiously flawed, has some redeeming values worth nurturing.

Seminar contains adult language and sexual situations.