Comedy and Drama on Stage

Stacie Lents, Professor of Theater and Communication, Arts, Communication, and Media Department, Fairleigh Dickinson University
5 Wednesday afternoons, 1:30-3:30 pm (2 hours), May 27, June 3, 10, 17, and 24, 2026.

This minicourse will explore theatrical scripts across a variety of periods and genres, with a focus on crafting strong dialogue and character. The course will take participants on a journey through theatrical innovation, interpreting plays from a range of playwrights and time periods. We will have an opportunity to examine playwrights such as Moliere, Shakespeare, Eugene O’Neill, August Wilson, Rebecca Gilman, and Anna Ziegler, among others. We will explore these writers’ unique approaches to character and language as well as their outsized impact on television, film, and culture. Prof. Lents will also discuss her own published and produced work, as well as elements of performance. 

     The course will be entertaining as well as informative and will give participants opportunities for in-class discussion to try their hand at the techniques playwrights use to build a scene. Reading of the plays covered is recommended but not required. Prof. Lents, a trained actor and member of both SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity Association, will read excerpts in class for those who are less familiar with the texts. All are welcome. No theater experience or background required. 

Stacie Lents received her MFA from Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts, and her BA from Yale University.  She is a Professor of Theater and Communication in the Department of Arts, Communication, and Media at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). She has been recognized with the Becton College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher of the Year award (2014), the University Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching (2020), the Maddy Award for Outstanding Teaching (2021), the University Distinguished Faculty Award for Student Success and Belonging (2024), and the EOF Champion Award (2025). 

Lents is also a professional playwright and actor. Her plays have been licensed in the United States, Australia, Canada, the UK, and Thailand. Theatrical Rights published her play College Colors, and Worldwide, and Playscripts, Inc. published her plays Henry’s Law, Laugh out Loud (cry quietly), and Fire Exit. Prison Performing Arts commissioned her to write the stage adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel Hag-Seed as part of their New Plays Initiative. A previous PPA commission, Run-On Sentence, was nominated for a St. Louis Theatre Circle Award for Outstanding New Play. 

She has also led workshops in Oral Communication at several organizations, including The Odyssey School in Maryland. 

     Excerpts from her plays have been anthologized in Contemporary Scenes for Twentysomethings and In Performance: Contemporary Monologues for Men and Women (Teens), published by Applause. Henry’s Law, a play about bullying, was included in Backstage.com’s list of 15 Must-Read Plays for Tweens and Teens. 

     As an actor, Stacie has performed regionally and in New York, including originating the one-woman play Six Hands by the late Eric H. Weinberger and playing Bessie in Eugene O’Neill’s Bread and Butter at New York’s Provincetown Playhouse. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Actors’ Equity Association, and SAG-AFTRA.