Playwriting: Nursing the Spark
ABOUT PLAYWRITING: NURSING THE SPARK
Inspiration for a new play can strike anywhere, anytime. But how do you nurse the spark of inspiration into a fully-formed idea? Where do you even begin? This class invites playwrights of all experience levels to spend time with a new idea, nurturing the flame while exploring key principles of writing for the stage. Artists will have the space to breathe life into their work through free-writing exercises designed to unlock creativity, as well as discussions of character, plot, dramatic action, dialogue (and more!). 'Playwriting: Nursing the Spark' will add fuel to the creative fire and give you the tools you need to bring your ideas to the page, and eventually the stage!
Dates: Wednesday nights, September 2 - October 7 with a reading event October 9 2026.
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Instructor: Jena McLean
Location: The Charlotte Street Arts Centre, Community Room (2nd floor)
732 Charlotte St, Fredericton, NB E3B 1M5. This space is equipped with an elevator and is wheelchair accessible.
ACCESS & ADAPTATIONS
Solo Chicken is committed to doing all we can to make our programming as accessible as possible, which includes being clear about the space and any additional supports we offer. Access & Adaptation offers for Playwriting: Nursing the Spark Include:
There is a single gender-neutral and wheelchair accessible washroom a few meters from the classroom.
The space is accessible for students with limited mobility/mobility aides (elevator a few meters from classroom and easy access from parking lot).
Sensory accommodations (fidgets, headphones, weighted sensory tools) available.
Assistant available for one-on-one support.
Have access or adaptation questions about our classes? Email jeanmichel@solochickenproductions.com
REGISTRATION
Solo Chicken Productions endeavours to make training available to anyone and everyone looking to learn, play and create! This class is offered through a “Pay-What-You-Can” format. You will find a suggested price listed ($160), but you are encouraged to pay the amount you feel you best fits you! That might a bit less or a bit more! Your tuition goes towards running our programs and paying our instructors the fees they deserve!
This class invites playwrights of all experience levels to spend time with a new idea, nurturing the flame while exploring key principles of writing for the stage!
Alternative Payment: Don’t have a credit card or interested in other ways to pay? If you would like to make an alternative form of payment, contact jeanmichel@solochickenproductions.com. Alternative forms of payment could include:
Paying by cash, cheque or e-transfer
Pay-as-you-go
Supplementing your tuition with an energy exchange (ex: working the door for a Solo Chicken event!)
Cancellation Policy: Solo Chicken reserves the right to cancel a course up to 2 weeks before it begins with a FULL refund being issued to all participants. Participants who drop out of the course at least 2 weeks before it begins will receive a FULL refund. After that, participants may request a 50% refund any time before the course’s second class.
Meet the instructor
Jena McLean (she/they)
A modern playwright with a classic touch, Jena McLean (she/they) is a queer artist with roots in New Brunswick and Alberta. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s playwriting program and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Drama studies from Mount Allison University. They taught the Advanced Script Workshop at St. Thomas University and currently serve as the Membership & Communications Coordinator for Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre.
Jena was recently Theatre New Brunswick's Artist-in-Residence, where they spent time developing a TYA edition of their play A Canyon Contained, which toured with TNB’s Young Company. Other recent work includes Like Confetti, How to Give Yourself a [Redacted], MFG (Magical Fat Girl), the collective creation Mythes Analogues and Until Tenth Grade (staged reading, dir. Dean Fleming, Geordie Theatre, 2021). Her play Bonus Points if You Have Air Conditioning was directed by Andrew Kushnir in 2021 as part of NTS's New Words Festival and later developed as part of TNB’s Fall Festival of New Plays, with direction and dramaturgy by Kat McCormack. Jena's play An Ocean of Evergreens was directed by Yvette Nolan during Theatre New Brunswick's 2020 Fall Festival of New Plays and was later submitted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
As a dramaturge, Jena has worked with Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, offering support to Iris Rhian during the 2025 Playwrights’ Retreat. They were the 2024 Playwright-in-Residence for the NotaBle Acts Theatre Festival, working with playwrights to develop fourteen scripts. Other recent dramaturgical collaborations include Tiger Lilies and Lobster Girls (Iris Rhian), Horse Girls (Jessie Walker), The Breakthrough (Patrick Jeffrey), and The List (Hilary Wheeler). Jena is driven to create work that is rich with complex roles for queer folks and young women. Her plays personalize the political and create space for those who feel unseen in theatre. She is a Sagittarius with a penchant for reality television.