Playwriting Course Taught By Award-Winning Playwright at SUNY Rockland Community College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: December 3, 2007

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574-4244

Playwriting Course Taught By Award-Winning Playwright
at SUNY Rockland Community College

Suffern, NY - Award-winning playwright, Angelo Parra, will be teaching Playwriting I this spring at SUNY Rockland Community College. Playwriting I (PER 203/ENG 287) is being offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:00-11:50 a.m. in the Cultural Arts Center. Spring Semester begins January 26.

"Many successful Hollywood screenwriters and directors began their careers as playwrights," said instructor and playwright Angelo Parra. "The course will include lectures on playwriting and theatre and playwriting exercises. The primary work of the course will be the completion of a one-act play. The course will culminate in a public reading of the students' plays by student actors. Please register early; admission to the course is strictly limited.” Parra also teaches Introduction to Performing Arts (PER 110).

Angelo Parra is the author of the critically acclaimed play, "The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith," which was named one of the "Top-10 Off-Broadway experiences" of 2001 by the New York Daily News. In addition to New York, he has production credits at the Hartford Stage, the Florida Stage, and in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and at the Edinburgh International Festival. In 2000, he was named a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and, in 2002, he was a Sundance Institute Feature Film Program finalist. Parra is the founder/director of the Hudson Valley Professional Playwrights Lab.

To enroll in Playwriting I (PER 203/ENG 287), visit or call Admissions, 845-574-4224, in the Technology Center at the College Ave. entrance in Suffern, on Mon, Thurs, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Tue, Wed, Fri, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

For further information, contact the Performing Arts Department at (845) 574-4471 or Angelo Parra, adjunct faculty, Performing Arts at aparra@sunyrockland.edu.

Classes for Spring Semester begin Saturday, January 26.

###

Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.