Our Education Mission
Bramble Education seeks to provide theatremakers with the tools to find and develop their own artistic voice. By offering a wide variety of classes and instructors, we empower students to direct their energy toward the skills and experiences that most inspire them. Our educators promote collaboration between diverse artists, exploration of new ideas and techniques, accessibility, and ensemble building. We strive for all of our students to continuously hone their skills, thrive in ensemble environments, and enrich the larger theatre community.
Bramble Education Program
UPCOMING CLASSES
All classes take place at the Bramble Arts Loft (located at 5545 N. Clark Street, 2nd Floor in Andersonville) unless noted otherwise.
Intro to Screenwriting with Alex Lubischer
Wednesdays, June 3 to July 22 @ 7pm and Sunday, July 26 @ 6pm
(no class on July 8)
$399
Application deadline: May 15, 2026
An introduction to the craft of screenwriting for writers whose background lies in theatre or prose. Throughout the course, we’ll analyze what makes visual storytelling unique while simultaneously interrogating what narrative foundations screenwriting shares with other forms. (The Protagonist, High Stakes, Conflict, etc.) Students are expected to read screenplays of popular films, engage in a rigorous discussion of these scripts, master screenplay formatting, and write a series of short scenes week-to-week. The course culminates with students completing a short film script or beginning the first act of an original feature screenplay.
This class is ideal for theater artists with some background in writing and/or storytelling who want to begin writing films. It's ideal for students interested in learning the difference between writing for the stage and the screen -- as well as what both of these mediums have in common.
Questions? Email education@brambletheatre.org!
Alex Lubischer is a queer Midwestern writer, born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. He teaches playwriting and screenwriting at DePaul University and Bramble Theatre in Chicago. Current screenwriting projects include BIG DAVE, an hour-long TV pilot co-conceived with Danilo Gambini—Hyperobject Industries is attached to produce—and three features: a 90s-set boy band movie for Division Global and Sappho Screen; an original thriller, EVILDOERS; and a bisexual coming-of-age comedy, THE DEEP END, co-written with Hanna Kime. His latest playwriting project is a new play commission for Raven Theatre. Past plays include PIVOT (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Yale School of Drama, GPTC New Play Conference 2024), BOBBIE CLEARLY (Roundabout Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Jeff Award Winner: Outstanding New Play), YOU DESERVE TO BE HERE (Goodman Playwrights Unit commission; Roundabout Theatre Laura Pels commission, The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting - Longlist), DO WASPS HAVE DESIRES? (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), WEIRD KIDS (Haven Chicago), THE QUONSETS (Yale Cabaret, co-written with Majkin Holmquist), and SURVEY NO.5 (House of International Theatre, Copenhagen). Lubischer is a former Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout Theatre Company. He has developed new work at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Page 73, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Victory Gardens Theater, First Floor Theater, Red Theatre, The Understudy, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. He has been a semifinalist for the P73 Playwriting Fellowship and a three-time finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. MFA: Yale. BA: University of Southern California.
Intro to Playwriting with Alex Lubischer
Mondays, June 1 to July 20 @ 7pm and Sunday, July 26 @ 1pm
(no class on July 6)
$399
Application deadline: May 15, 2026
Through a series of weekly writing exercises inspired by the freshest, most inventive plays of the 21st Century, aspiring playwrights will add skills to their storytelling tool belt while writing the first act of a full-length play. Students in the workshop will study plays by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Annie Baker, Rajiv Joseph, and Alistair McDowall—to name a few—paired with storytelling theory from Sarah Ruhl, Zadie Smith, Simon Stephens, and more. The course asks writers to read like thieves, not like academics: does the play move you? Could you use this structure/technique in your own plays? What is your play doing to its audience? How?
This class is ideal for brand new playwrights: folks who have never written a play but want to try and who have a love of writing. It's also great for beginning-to-emerging playwrights who have written a play or two but have yet to receive a rigorous education in the craft of playwriting. Theatre artists in other disciplines (directors, actors) who want to try their hand at playwriting have also loved this class.
Questions? Email education@brambletheatre.org!
Alex Lubischer is a queer Midwestern writer, born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. He teaches playwriting and screenwriting at DePaul University and Bramble Theatre in Chicago. Current screenwriting projects include BIG DAVE, an hour-long TV pilot co-conceived with Danilo Gambini—Hyperobject Industries is attached to produce—and three features: a 90s-set boy band movie for Division Global and Sappho Screen; an original thriller, EVILDOERS; and a bisexual coming-of-age comedy, THE DEEP END, co-written with Hanna Kime. His latest playwriting project is a new play commission for Raven Theatre. Past plays include PIVOT (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Yale School of Drama, GPTC New Play Conference 2024), BOBBIE CLEARLY (Roundabout Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Jeff Award Winner: Outstanding New Play), YOU DESERVE TO BE HERE (Goodman Playwrights Unit commission; Roundabout Theatre Laura Pels commission, The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting - Longlist), DO WASPS HAVE DESIRES? (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), WEIRD KIDS (Haven Chicago), THE QUONSETS (Yale Cabaret, co-written with Majkin Holmquist), and SURVEY NO.5 (House of International Theatre, Copenhagen). Lubischer is a former Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout Theatre Company. He has developed new work at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Page 73, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Victory Gardens Theater, First Floor Theater, Red Theatre, The Understudy, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. He has been a semifinalist for the P73 Playwriting Fellowship and a three-time finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. MFA: Yale. BA: University of Southern California.