Saturday October 31st and Sunday November 1st, 2026 

Click here to apply. 

Hawthornden Brooklyn invites applications from high school students who currently attend New York City public schools to participate in our Fall 2026 Young Writers’ Playwriting Workshop. In this two-day introductory workshop, participants will try their hands at writing plays. On the first day, we will do writing exercises, read a few scenes, and discuss topics such as dialogue, character, and writing for the stage (as opposed to the page or screen). The second day, students will work on crafting their own short plays. We'll workshop those plays as a group, with an eye toward revision. By the end of the weekend, students will have a draft of a new short play, as well as a general overview of what it is to write for theater. This workshop is open to all NYC public high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Teacher: Lily Akerman

Lily Akerman is a writer based in New York.  Her recent work includes the plays The Commons (59E59), Hedgehog Years (Playing On Air), and the libretti Dreamcatcher (Dublin International Film Festival) and The Stalls (Cork Opera House, nominated for Best Opera by the Irish Times).  Her work has been developed with Fault Line Theatre, the Hearth, Clubbed Thumb, and the New Theatre in Dublin.  She won Playing On Air’s 2018 James Stevenson Prize, was a finalist for the Leah Ryan Prize, and received the Rita Goldberg Play Award.  She’s a Fulbright awardee and a New Georges affiliated artist. She is a recent fellow of Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program.

Workshop schedule:

Saturday October 31st and Sunday November 1st, 2026. 10AM to 4PM both days. Lunch will be provided free of charge. 

Location: 

Hawthornden Brooklyn, Ditmas Park. Exact location will be shared with accepted students. 

Eligibility guidelines:

Must currently be enrolled in a New York City public high school.