[Writing for Performance: Theatre, Opera, Screen, and In-Between
w/ ROXIE PERKINS]
Saturday June 6th & Sunday June 7th, 2026
10:30 AM- 1:00 PM, one-hour lunch break, 2:00 PM- 4:30 PM
In person @ Atelier Rose, Paris 20e (metro Alexandre Dumas)
*Maximum 10 participants*
This two-day weekend intensive will explore writing for theatre, opera, screen, and various mediums that fall in between. Through close readings, craft lessons, and discussion, we’ll cover dynamic approaches to dialogue, lyricism, and storytelling that are applicable to all forms of writing. Mornings will be spent in text analysis of assigned readings and craft lessons based on the day’s subject. Afternoons will be spent doing in-class writing exercises and workshopping each other’s material.
Day 1: PLAYWRITING
Through the study of diverse readings, we’ll explore various theater styles, from realism to surrealism, and cover the basics of writing for the screen. Through in-class prompted exercises, we will investigate ways to use sound and imagery to build complex characters. Further topics that will be covered are: how to craft compelling monologues, how to communicate character through dialogue, how to structure scenes, and how to use dramatic structure to build a narrative.
Day 2: MEDIUMS THAT UTILIZE MUSIC (including narrative song, opera, and music-theatre)
Using excerpts and readings, we’ll cover lessons on lyric writing and stylistic possibilities within opera and music-theatre. Through in-class exercises we will explore writing opera arias, music-theatre songs/scenes, and narrative songs. Further topics that will be covered are: choral writing, stylistic use of stage directions, and physical storytelling.
This intensive is open to all writers regardless of experience or background, including total beginners. If you are currently working on a play or performance text, this intensive provides an opportunity to get feedback and learn new methods to enhance your project.
If you have never written for performance but are interested in transforming a poem or short story into a script, this workshop offers a deep dive into various techniques that can be utilized to do so.
Pricing
EARLY BIRD (enroll before March 15):
1. Supported rate: 175 euros
[For those with financial constraints or instability]
2. Standard rate: 215 euros
[Reflects the true cost of the program and sustains Atelier Rose]
3. Community supporter rate: 255 euros
[For those able to pay more to help keep the atelier accessible to others]
—
REGULAR PRICE (enroll after March 15):
1. Supported rate: 195 euros
[For those with financial constraints or instability]
2. Standard rate: 235 euros
[Reflects the true cost of the program and sustains Atelier Rose]
3. Community supporter rate: 275 euros
[For those able to pay more to help keep the atelier accessible to others]
Reach out to atelierrose.paris@gmail.com if cost is a barrier for you.
We will do everything we can to help make your participation possible. :)
Led by
Roxie Perkins
Roxie Perkins is an artist whose work spans the fields of opera, theatre, film, television, and new media art. She is the librettist of the Pulitzer Prize winning opera p r i s m . She also won The Music Critics Association of North America’s 2019 “Best New Opera” Award, and was nominated for “Best World Premiere” at the 2020 International Opera Awards alongside composer Ellen Reid. p r i s m was released as an album and featured on NPR’s list of the “Best Classical Music of the Decade”.
Roxie wrote on the innovative, digital opera project desert in, co-produced by Boston Lyric Opera and Long Beach Opera. The project was nominated for Opera America’s “Excellence in Digital Opera” Award in 2021. Her latest opera, THE SHELL TRIAL, premiered at the Dutch National Opera in 2024 and was shortlisted for the FEDORA award, a European platform supporting innovation in opera.
Roxie has been awarded a Sundance Playwright Fellowship. Her writing has been nominated to The Kilroy’s “THE LIST” and We For She’s “WriteHer List,” annual rankings of the best unproduced plays and original TV pilots by women.
Her work has been programmed at The Kennedy Center’s DIRECT CURRENT Festival, REDCAT, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, PROTOTYPE Festival, Los Angeles Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Long Beach Opera, National Sawdust, Cutting Ball Theater, A Noise Within’s “Noise Now” Artist Residency, Crowded Fire Theater’s Matchbox Reading Series, The Tank NYC, and On The Verge Summer Repertory Theater.
Internationally her work has been seen at Theatro Municipal (Brazil), Dutch National Opera (The Netherlands), Theater Freiburg (Germany), Ooppera Skaala (Finland), and The Australian Contemporary Opera Company (Australia). p r i s m’s production in São Paulo was nominated for the 2019 Prêmio CONCERTO Award for Best Opera Production in Brazil.
Roxie has worked as a Visiting Lecturer at CalArts, UCLA, and Berlin Writers’ Workshop, as well as a Teaching Artist at Berkeley Repertory School of Theatre.
Enroll
Only 10 spots available. Payment link will be removed once full.
Once you have paid and confirmed your place, you will be sent a confirmation email within 24 hours with further information.
Email atelierrose.paris@gmail.com with any questions or inquiries you may have.