One day, English teacher Helen Lau’s students just might see characters who look like them on a theater stage. Lau spent six weekends this fall with a dozen other people in a playwriting class sponsored by the local Kumu Kahua Theatre.
When Lau received the email advertising the class, she said she “jumped at it.” There were only 13 students accepted and a “long waiting list,” so she appreciated the opportunity to learn from professional writers. She worked on a short play based on her experiences in the classroom.
Lau said learning about the process of writing was eye-opening, not just as a writer, but as a teacher.
“I learned so, so much about helping my students bring the novels they are reading to life,” she said.
On a personal level, Lau said reversing the roles and becoming the student was “humbling.” She had some challenging assignments and said she had to “unlearn some ideas about essays” in order to make her dialgoue more authentic.
Lau’s teacher was so impressed with the students’ drafts, that she is extending the class by four sessions in January, so the budding playwrights can polish them into performance-ready works.
