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.
VILLAINS: For Intermediate Playwrights
Tuesdays, Sept 16 to Nov 4, 2025 - 7:00pm to 10:00pm
$399
Applications Close Sept 7! Only 12 slots for this class.
Why do we love villains? And why are so few great villains featured in contemporary plays? Villains can be delicious, horrifying, shocking, empathetic, cheesy, heartbreaking, rebellious, entertaining – and so much more! In this 8-week course, students will study plays featuring the nefarious, the monstrous, and the diabolical – and then apply what they learn to their own writing. Finally, the course will give playwrights the tools to analyze structure and facilitate revision.
This class is for playwrights who have written at least one full-length play (60+ pages), who are interested in challenging themselves and their audience, and who can get behind the following phrase: “Main characters needn’t be likable or good; they must, however, be endlessly fascinating.”
Alex Lubischer is a queer Midwestern writer, born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Yale. He lives by the lake in Chicago with his dog. His plays include BOBBIE CLEARLY (Roundabout Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Jeff Award Winner: Outstanding New Play), PIVOT (Yale School of Drama, GPTC New Play Conference 2024), 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 was the 2017/18 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout Theatre Company. He has developed new work at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, Page 73, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Victory Gardens Theater, First Floor Theater, 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. He teaches playwriting at DePaul University and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Intro to Playwriting
Wednesdays, Sept 17 to Nov 5, 2025 - 7:00pm to 10:00pm
$399
Applications Close Sept 7! Only 12 slots for this class.
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.
Alex Lubischer is a queer Midwestern writer, born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Yale. He lives by the lake in Chicago with his dog. His plays include BOBBIE CLEARLY (Roundabout Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Jeff Award Winner: Outstanding New Play), PIVOT (Yale School of Drama, GPTC New Play Conference 2024), 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 was the 2017/18 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout Theatre Company. He has developed new work at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, Page 73, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Victory Gardens Theater, First Floor Theater, 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. He teaches playwriting at DePaul University and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
What past students are saying about this course….
“Alex’s class not only got me writing, it got me thinking of myself as a writer. Being in a circle of other creatives was inspiring, and Alex has a gift for fostering a space where ideas actually spark. I’m already more than halfway through my first play, planning a reading, and—thanks to this course—there’s no turning back.”
“I really enjoyed Alex’s class! As someone who hasn’t sat down to write since graduating college, it was a warm and creative environment that allowed me to reconnect with my work in a new and exciting way. The class was organized and specific, and that made it easy for me to focus my work and explore all kinds of themes I had not thought about. It is a wonderful class!”
“By taking Alex’s playwriting classes, I strengthened my skills as a writer by having access to his expertise, knowledge, and encouragement. Alex created an incredibly warm and collaborative learning environment which helped me and my fellow colleagues write to the best of our abilities. Highly recommend! ”
“I love to start a story but have rarely had the skills to see it past the initial spark of inspiration. Alex gave us the tools to keep mining the story and ourselves to see what we might uncover by playing. Because of this class, I now have my first, first draft. And that alone has been transformational. I’m so excited to keep developing that story and am way less scared to start the next one. I feel like I can finally call myself a playwright. ”
“I found this class exciting and creatively fulfilling. Alex creates an atmosphere of respect and appreciation for everyone’s work, while also offering valuable individual feedback. In addition, the variety of plays read and discussed showed me all sorts of ways to write for the stage. A great experience all around.”
“I took Intro to Playwriting out of curiosity, because I’d heard many wonderful things and wanted to experience it as an artist and fellow educator. I didn’t have any specific intention to write a play. A few weeks in, I couldn’t think about anything else! Alex took the fear and mysticism out of writing, making it accessible and enjoyable for everyone regardless of experience. I highly recommend everyone take his class! ”