Teaching

Nobody taught John playwriting. Shortly after he graduated from the National Theatre School in 1969, there was an explosion of new, original theatre in Canada, which involved a generation of then-new playwrights; and virtually all of them were, like John, self-taught. 

As John recalls, “It was exciting to be a member of this first widespread generation, but the downside was a lack of older experts to teach us how.” So, like most Canadian playwrights of his generation, John figured out the craft on his own. In doing that, he discovered his technique involving a dual approach to plot and dialogue, which he’s been using on his own plays since 1977. 

But then, he wanted to serve as one of those mentors, for other artists, whom he hadn’t had in his own youth. In 1990, his friend Kathryn Shaw, Director of the renowned Vancouver theatre conservatory program Studio 58, invited him to give a course in playwriting. He was soon asked to take over the school’s course in solo shows as well, and remained at Studio 58 for ten years. He also taught screenwriting at the Vancouver Film School. 

In 2000, he was invited to take up a post as Assistant Professor in the Drama Department at Queen’s University, teaching playwriting, solo show techniques, theatre for young audiences, and other subjects. In 2001 and 2002, he also taught at his alma mater, the National Theatre School in Montreal. 

In addition, John has long been in demand as an adjudicator for community and student theatre festivals.  He has also served high schools and community theatres as a “pre-adjudicator,” offering private adjudications on their productions before those productions go on to formal festivals. 

As for John’s playwriting workshops, they are well reputed to be interactive, informative and fun. In keeping with his central thesis that playwriting is a dual process, he offers several games, at least two of which relate to those two sides of the process. Many a high-school teacher and college professor has remarked on the levels of energy, laughter and happy noise that get generated in John’s workshops – and the students come away with a wealth of new information, understanding and strategies. 

Though much of John’s teaching has been in the classroom, he has also spent hundreds of hours reading drafts of individual students’ plays, writing feedback on them, and discussing them in depth with one student at a time.

The Canadian theatre and film industries are populated with John’s former students: Governor-General’s-Award-winning playwrights; television and feature film screenwriters and producers, Artistic Directors of their own theatres, leaders of groups of devised-theatre artists, entire companies creating original work with the techniques he taught them – and, of course, instructors in their own right, passing on some of John’s principles to the next generation of artists. 

If you or your organization are interested in inviting John to adjudicate or pre-adjudicate a festival, teach a playwriting workshop, or work with you or another playwright individually, please feel free to contact him at lazarusj@queensu.ca.

Rates are negotiable. John is within easy reach of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and other towns within this area, but he’s willing to travel!