I am very proud that I received my MFA in Playwriting from Pennsylvania State University a hundred years ago. I loved writing, and I loved teaching writing. One of the challenges I have had over the years is how to come up with that very first assignment to get my sophomores to connect and really love this art. I had quite a few that had some luck- but nothing had the success of this assignment. One year we had a surprising span of time at the end of the semester and I thought it was a good time to introduce an assignment for a bit of fun and a bit of torture for the young writer, but it was amazing. Giving students each one of these ridiculous titles below, I had the very best plays of the year. This was true year after year. AND all I asked was that the title somehow be integral to the play. I HIGHLY recommend this ultra simple exercise. Here are the titles I used the first year: Read more