For the second year straight, the Charlotte Street Arts Centre is hosting “What Happened to the Ragdoll Cat?” a writing class led by veteran playwright Ryan Griffith.
Griffith welcomed a couple of new writers who never had presented their work publicly. On the day of the final presentation, they presented in front of an audience of 60 people.
Every Tuesday night, the workshop covers all the basics of developing writing skills for when it comes to getting your ideas on the page. The class culminates with a public reading where the new scripts are showcased for the general public in the Charlotte Street Arts Centre.
Griffith’s passion for writing started as a kid when he watched a lot of movies and read many books.
“When you’re super young and you spend a lot of time with things, you start to understand how they work,” said Griffith. “I think that’s what kind of originally triggered my interest in writing.”
He said he never got to receive mentorship until he took theatre courses.
“That wasn’t really a thing that someone could do when I was growing up in Woodstock.”
Now, Griffith has become the mentor of other people in the community who share the same passion for writing.
“I can save people time,” he said about sharing his knowledge with others and preventing them from making the same mistakes.
“That’s what makes me the happiest as a mentor, because life is short and I would like to save anyone time on these projects.”
The workshop welcomes everyone, regardless of experience level or background. Griffith said that he starts the workshop by meeting the needs of the people who have enrolled the class and by knowing what they are interested in learning.
“They can start to build their own cinematic universe.”
He said all the participants write their stories around the Ragdoll Cat, for each of them this character could have a different story. Griffith added the Ragdoll Cat is a component of the universe they start to build.
“For some of them, their Ragdoll Cat could be missing or for others could be the main character of the story.”
Griffith helps the participants, not only coaching them along with their pieces, but also reading and editing the material they’re working on.
At the end of the workshop, writers have the chance to present their work in front of an audience.
“When you see writers getting their first public presentation, it’s just wonderful. It’s a wonderful thing to see. It just gives you a wonderful feeling inside,” said Griffith.
