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Looking for creative training that fits your life (and your schedule)? Want to learn from artists who are actually out there? Ready to make something you’re proud of—with guidance?
Live, Online Courses.
Hands-On Arts Training.
Industry-Led Instruction.
Where creative education meets professional practice.
Upcoming Courses
LOOKING FOR TROUBLE:
Understanding Conflict as a Storytelling Tool with Michael Ross Albert
Dates: Tuesdays October 6 - November 3, 2026 (5 sessions)
Time: 6:30-9:00pm EST on Zoom
Fee for participants: $325
Subsidized spots are available, email breanne@expect.org to inquire.
Application Deadline: September 22, 2026
Conflict is the driving force of dramatic writing. But in the early stages of a new play's development, writers have a tendency to focus on other storytelling elements, which can disrupt the text's dramatic momentum and unbalance its structure. In this course, writers will be encouraged to mine their plays for conflict in order to heighten the emotional stakes of their work and mould their writing into rich, dramatically satisfying arcs.
Emerging and/or mid-career playwrights will learn how to use conflict as a conduit for plot exposition, as a catalyst for character development, and as the engine for a play's dramatic action. Participants will be invited to share new works in process, and receive feedback with a focus on plot, structure, and high-stakes storytelling.
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Described by the Toronto Star as “one of Toronto’s most exciting playwrights,” Michael Ross Albert is a Dora Award-nominated writer whose work has been staged across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. His plays include The Bidding War (Crow's Theatre; finalist, Carol Bolt Award), The Village It Takes (finalist, Tom Hendry Drama Award) Beautiful Renegades (Peggy Baker Dance Projects), Two Minutes to Midnight (The Assembly Theatre), Miss (Unit 102), and Tough Jews (Dora Award nomination, Outstanding New Play). Michael's work has been presented in multiple Fringe festivals, including Edinburgh, Brighton, Edmonton, Halifax, and FringeNYC. Five of his plays were staged in the Toronto Fringe Festival, includingThe Huns and Anywhere; both plays were named Patron’s Pick and Best of Fringe, and have received subsequent productions.
“Michael introduced me to playwriting concepts I had never heard of before - they are so practical.
It was a great sandbox to explore in and try new things.”
- Past Participant
THE LEAP:
Expanding from Playwriting into TV Writing with Anusree Roy
Dates: Saturdays October 3-31, 2026 (5 sessions)
Time: 3:00-5:30pm EST on Zoom
Fee for participants: $325
Subsidized spots are available, email breanne@expect.org to inquire.
Application Deadline: September 25, 2026
As someone who started my career as a playwright, I had very little knowledge of how a writing room operates.
This course will focus on the fundamentals of writing for television, creating your own series idea, and pitching your show.
I created this course to address the fundamental knowledge playwrights need when expanding into television. This course will not only explore what happens inside the writing room but will also provide a step-by-step, in-depth approach on how to create, write, and pitch your own show.
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Anusree is a two time Governor General’s Award-nominated and four-time Dora Award-winning writer, actor, and director. She is currently the Co-Executive Producer and writer for the Allegiance S3 (CBC) television series. Anusree has also worked on Interview With The Vampire S3 (AMC), Allegiance S2 (CBC), Transplant S2 (NBC/Netflix/CTV), I Woke Up a Vampire (Netflix), SkyMed (Paramount+/CBC), Remedy (Global TV), Killjoys (SyFy), and Nurses S1 & S2 (NBC/Global TV). She has also received a CSA nomination for a Guest Star role on Allegiance.
For theatre, Anusree’s plays include: Through the Eyes of God, Sisters, Trident Moon, Little Pretty and The Exceptional, Sultans of the Street, Brothel # 9, Roshni, Letters to my Grandma, and Pyaasa. She is the recipient of the K.M. Hunter Award, the RBC Emerging Artist Award, the Carol Bolt Award and the Siminovitch Protégé Prize. She was the 2018 finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women writing for English-speaking theatre). Currently, she is the commissioned playwright at Tarragon Theatre, writing her new play, 147, 8th Street. She holds a B.A. from York University and an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and most of her plays have been published by Playwrights Canada Press.
“This course will help me shape the future of my career. Invaluable lessons learned from an amazing instructor.”
- Past Participant
Past Workshops