🐂 DURHAM CAMPUS

Location: American Underground, 201 W Main St, Durham, NC
Faculty: Juliana Valente, Roy Dicks, Morgan Piner, Guest Artists
Audition: No audition required.
Ages: 14–Adult (Acting Lab); 18–Adult (Studio Programme)
Fall I Term: September 13 - December 13, 2025
Fall II Term: October 25 - December 13, 2025

Course information: CLICK HERE
Frequently Asked Questions: CLICK HERE
Durham Campus Calendar Fall 2025 : CLICK HERE

🎓 THE STUDIO PROGRAMME

Saturdays | 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
October 25 - December 13, 2025
Showcase 1: Nov 8, 2025
Showcase 2: Dec 13, 2025
Instructor: Juliana Valente
Ages:  18 and up

Ten weeks. Two public showcases. One fearless community.
OdysseyStage’s Studio Programme is the Triangle’s training ground for actors, directors, and playwrights who want to push their craft further.

Each Saturday, artists dive into acting, playwriting, and design labs, then come together in the afternoon for an intensive ensemble session. Actors sharpen their technique and flexibility through scene study, improvisation, and classical work. Playwrights generate new pages in real time and hear them tested on their feet. Directors and designers expand their creative vocabulary alongside the ensemble.

The semester culminates in two public showcases: a festival performance in November and a final Studio Night in December. No auditions required—just commitment, courage, and a willingness to grow.

Studio Programme Members receive free access to all other Durham Campus classes below.

✍️ WRITING LAB: PLAYWRIGHT INCUBATOR II

Saturdays | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Oct 25 – Nov 16 (4 weeks)
Instructor: TBD
Tuition: $210.22 a la carte, or FREE for STUDIO PROGRAMME Members

Take Your Scripts to the Next Level: How to Analyze and Ready Them for Sending Out

Once a play is its first draft, it’s often difficult for playwrights to step outside their sense of accomplishment to take an objective look at what might need revision. Friends and colleagues can be sources of meaningful feedback, but it’s best if playwrights can be armed with their own analytical skills to spot areas needing work.

In four two-hour sessions, instructor Roy Dicks will lay out the categories of revision most often needed, including repetitious dialog, awkward or unnecessary exposition, characters lecturing rather than revealing the theme, reliance on numerous scene changes, and calling for impractical settings and technical effects.

Sessions will include interactive group examinations of sample scripts, as well as analyses of scripts in progress that participants bring in. There also will be group exercises in revision during the sessions and presentations from area playwrights who have worked with Roy on acquiring script analysis skills.

This series is geared to playwrights with some experience in writing a full-length play or substantial one-act, and less to those just starting out or concentrating on 10-minute or audio plays.

✍️ WRITING LAB: PLAYWRIGHT INCUBATOR II

Saturdays | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Oct 25 – Nov 15 (4 weeks)
Instructors: TBD
Tuition: $210.22 a la carte, or FREE for STUDIO PROGRAMME Members

New cycle of the Playwright Incubator featuring fresh prompts, peer feedback, and actor collaboration.

🎭 ACTING LAB

Saturdays | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Mondays | 7:00 – 9:00 PM
October 25 - December 13, 2025
Showcase 1: Nov 8, 2025
Showcase 2: Dec 13, 2025
Instructors: Juliana Valente & Morgan Piner
Ages:  14 and up
Tuition: $180 a la carte, or FREE for STUDIO PROGRAMME Members

Focused actor training for stage and screen. Includes scene study, filmed performance, and audition prep. For artists who want the full acting track without the writing or tech labs.

🎨 TECH LAB: THEATRE DESIGN ESSENTIALS

Saturdays | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Oct 25 – Dec 13 (4 weeks)
Instructors: Guest Designers
Tuition: $180 a la carte, or FREE for STUDIO PROGRAMME Members

Step behind the curtain and discover how stories come to life.

In this design-forward lab, you’ll explore the essential elements of theatrical storytelling: lighting, sound, costumes, and scenic space. Taught by working professionals in the field, each session unlocks a new creative lens and gives you tools to shape the world of a play.

Perfect for actors who want to deepen their awareness of the stage, writers who want to think like designers, and creatives eager to explore the visual and technical side of theatre.

🎟 DROP-IN RATES

Available only if space allows (excluding Writing Labs):
• $12 observation pass for non-members
• Free for STUDIO PROGRAMME members

 

WHO SHOULD JOIN THE FULL STUDIO PROGRAMME?

The Studio Programme is built for theatre artists who are hungry to grow.

Whether you’re a performer looking to deepen your craft or a playwright craving a space to test bold ideas, this is for you. We welcome actors, writers, directors, and curious creatives of all experience levels who are ready to work hard, take risks, and collaborate generously.

Ages 18 and up. No audition required—just commitment, courage, and a willingness to be transformed.

WHAT SETS US APART

We don’t just train artists. We build a community.

At OSTC, craft and creativity go hand-in-hand. You’ll train alongside a multi-disciplinary cohort of actors, playwrights, and designers. You’ll create new work, rehearse scripts by legendary playwrights, and perform in two public showcases. You’ll learn what makes a scene work—and why.

Classes are intimate. Mentorship is personal. The work is serious, but the vibe is joyful.

Plus, Studio Programme members get free access to all additional Durham Campus courses: Writing Labs, Tech Lab, and Advanced Acting Lab. It’s a full theatre education in one affordable season.

INSTRUCTORS

Roy Dicks (Playwrighting Instructor) has in-depth experience with original plays. Since 2021, he’s judged nearly 100 new scripts for OdysseyStage and Carolina Playwrights Lab development programs. He was a theater critic for 21 years with the Raleigh News & Observer and for eight years with the Raleigh Spectator, covering over 1,200 stage productions, including more than a hundred new works. Roy directed 34 stage productions in the area, a third of which were originals. Roy has BA degrees in Theater and in English, and is a member of the American Theater Critics Association and the Dramatists Guild. He received a 2024 Raleigh Medal of Arts for his six decades of involvement in area theater. He currently consults with playwrights, helping to make scripts production-ready. 

Juliana Valente (Acting Instructor and Dramaturg) has taught voice, acting, and dramaturgical analysis privately and at The North Carolina Theatre Conservatory, Carnegie Hill Concert Artists, International Women’s Theatre Festival Fringe Lab, and Southeastern Theatre Conference. A proud member of Actors’ Equity, she has performed in and created international educational video content reaching students in 46 states and nine countries. Juliana’s credits include Macbeth, 1776, City of Angels, Master Class, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Venus in Fur, and the Olympia performance installation at Tribeca Film Institute. As a dramaturg, she has collaborated with playwrights since 2012 on works produced at NYC’s Flea Theatre, The Players Theatre, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the London Gallery, as well as regional theatres nationwide. Juliana brings deep craft, global perspective, and a passion for new work to every classroom and rehearsal room. julianavalente.com

Morgan Piner (Acting Instructer) is a proud N.C. State and Circle in the Square Theatre School alumna, as well as a member of both Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA. She is also the recipient of NC State’s Artist of the Year Award and the Bitzer Performance Award. With over a decade of experience working as a teaching artist in theatre, dance, television, and film, including serving as Art Education Coordinator for the Arts Council of Henderson County, Morgan finds deep fulfillment in bringing joy, compassion, and creativity to arts education, helping students grow both as artists and as people. Morgan is grateful for the opportunities the arts have given her, including portraying Penelope Featherington in Tyce Diorio’s Bridgerton Dance Project and earning a BroadwayWorld nomination for Best Choreography in a Musical. When not teaching, Morgan spends her days in film and TV production. Check out jumpingmulletmedia.com for more.

Looking for our Raleigh Campus classes? Click here.

OdysseyStage is a home for bold new plays and fearless talent.

Based in the Triangle and rooted in the rich creative soil of North Carolina, we develop new work by emerging playwrights, train actors and artists at every level, and build community through daring, collaborative theatre.

Our education programs are powered by the OdysseyStage Theatre Collective (OSTC)—a network of working professionals, teaching artists, and students who believe in craft, courage, and creative risk. We don’t just teach acting or writing. We foster resilience, artistic generosity, and a deep respect for the ensemble.

Whether you're stepping onto the stage for the first time or honing your voice as a storyteller, OdysseyStage is a place to grow, connect, and be challenged—in the best way.

Welcome to the journey.