Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui | Deconstructing Theatre for a Panoramic Perspective — Theatre Talk and Workshop Series : Playwriting Workshop

Description

From scriptwriting, dramaturgy to scenography — discover the core of creating for the theatre from diverse entry points.

What draws us into a piece of theatre as it evolves from an idea into a stage play? Is it the dramatic tension in the script, the unfolding of visual metaphors, or the details in the various segments that slowly take shape?

There may be more than one answer to this: it has to be determined by the interaction between the links, and each plays a significant part. 

This series charts a creative journey through three key theatrical disciplines — playwriting, dramaturgy, and scenography.

By exploring the genesis of a story, the construction of narrative logic, the imaginative potential of spatial and visual elements on stage, and the insights of local theatre creators, we invite you to step into multiple entry points of theatre-making and find more creative possibilities with us. 

Playwriting Workshop

Speaker: Ivan Kwok

Workshop Overview

Playwriting Workshop: For Those Who Know How to Tell Stories

We all know how to tell stories — but do we know how to let stories "speak for themselves"?

While fiction, prose, and drama may seem to share common roots, their structures and narrative logic differ vastly. Fiction can stand back and observe; prose externalises sentiments; but drama demands the characters to speak for themselves.

This playwriting workshop invites participants to begin with conversations in everyday life, dreams, and the subconscious, then proceed to taking a new look at dialogues and dramatic thinking. Rather than abstract theory, it emphasizes practical exercises, short adaptations, and improvisation to explore how characters speak and how emotions and actions resonate.

In these five sessions, you'll rediscover the dynamics of dialogue, understand yourself more, listen to your characters, and take pleasure in every line you write.

Session 1 – 25.2.2026 (Wed): Where Stories Begin — The Instinct to Tell

Theme: The first step from everyday life to drama

Content:

-              "We tell stories every day": a narrative exercise to draw on dreams, conversations, and memories

-              Prose vs drama: Who's speaking? Who's listening?

-              Exercise: turn a "slice of daily conversation" into an opening scene of a play

Session 2 – 4.3.2026 (Wed): Let the Characters Speak — The Birth of Dialogue

Theme: From "what I want to say" to "what the characters say"

Content:

-              The three layers of dialogue: subconscious, rational, emotional

-              The art of listening: how to turn a character's words into the pulse of a play

-              Exercise: adapt a prose passage into a dialogue between two persons

Session 3 – 11.3.2026 (Wed): The Structure of Drama — From Emotion to Conflict

Theme: Why is it harder to write drama than prose?

Content:

-              The dramatic triangle: desire, obstacle, transformation

-              Character's action logic vs author's emotional impulse

-              Exercise: devise what a character "wants" and what they "can't have"

Session 4 – 18.3.2026 (Wed): Scenes and Rhythm — The Breathing Theatre

Theme: From script to stage

Content:

-              “A story you can see”: imagining stage space and physical action

-              Rhythm and silent moments: how silence and action are more powerful than the spoken word

-              Exercise: rewrite a "phone conversation" into a dramatic scene

Session 5 – 25.3.2026 (Wed): Draw from Life, Write the Play Within You

Theme: Drama as a way of understanding the self

Content:

-              Transforming personal experiences into dramatic archetypes

-              How to "find yourself and go beyond yourself" in a story

-              Group sharing: one-page script reading presentations