One-Act Playwriting

The One-Act Playwriting Program is the cornerstone of Marfa Live Arts’ education programming at Marfa Independent School District. In its tenth year, each spring the Marfa Live Arts’ Playwriting Program hosts a Latinx playwright-in-residence. This guest playwright leads Marfa High School students through a series of writing exercises that are meant to cull from students’ memories, senses, imagination, emotions and life experiences. Guiding students to develop unique characters, plots and stories, the playwright opens the door for students to write about their own heritage, families, and cultural background. This in-class playwriting program results in each student writing their own original one-act play. The work that emerges is powerful and honest, and it increases the student’s self-confidence, literacy and critical thinking skills. To date, the annual high school playwriting workshop has resulted in over 775 one-act plays written by Marfa students.

Photo by Jessica Lutz