Person County, NC Website

Each workshop is open to participants ages 15 and up. The cost of each workshop is $15.

Click here to then select cultural arts to register online! Students ages 15-18 email us to secure your seat! 

At the conclusion, participants from all workshops will have the opportunity to perform or have their work performed in a Literary Arts Showcase at the Kirby Cultural Arts Complex on January 20, 2024

Workshop - "Page to The Stage Inspiration"

Facilitators: Poet/Actresses, Tammy Tillotson and LaTanya Pattilo

Location: Kirby Rebirth – Main Hall

Time: Sept. 23, 2023 11am-2pm

Tammy Tillotson and LaTanya Pattilo will share sources of inspiration that motivate them to write poetry. Using their poetry and scenes from each of their favorite plays and playwrights they will share how they craft their performances for the stage. Workshop participants will do table reading of both artists' works, cold reading of scenes from a play and create verses from writing prompts. This workshop is an interactive experience approximate for all skill levels ages 15 through adults.

Workshop - "Kinetic Writing"

Facilitator: Donna Washington

Location: Kirby Rebirth - Main Hall

Time: September 30, 2023 - 11am-12:30pm

Writing happens everywhere. It happens when you are in the shower, doing chores, driving your car, eating lunch or any other activity. The last place it happens is when you are sitting in front of a blank paper or screen! The mechanics of writing is not the same thing as the process. In this workshop we will harness the kinetic power of writing so that when you do sit down to write, you are chronicling your thoughts, not waiting for the blank page to tell you want to do!

Workshop - "Page to The Stage Inspiration"

Facilitators: Jackie Finney, Richard Breen, Giuseppe Ritorto & Justin Hall

Location: Kirby Rebirth – Main Hall

Time: October 7, 2023 11am-2pm


Averett University of Danville, Virginia Theatre Department offers a Bachelor Of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre that teaches students the skills and knowledge they need to develop their craft, with a thorough grounding in acting, writing, stagecraft and directing. Professor Jackie Finney, Richard Breen, Giuseppe Ritorto, Justin Hall will guide workshop participants through "Musical Theater", "Acting 101", "Directing" and "Costumes and Theatre Design. This workshop is an interactive experience approximate for all skill levels ages 15 years old through adults.

Workshop - Story Crafting

Facilitators: Donna Washington

Location: Kirby Rebirth – Main Hall

Time: October 14, 2023 11am-1pm

This is a workshop for people who are already working on stories and want to work on specific pieces. This workshop is also for those who have begun telling and are building their repertoire. It is a coaching session for those who are trying to find their voice.
Telling effective stories is all in the crafting. Join Master Storyteller Donna Washington in an interactive workshop where we develop a process of taking a story and making it your own. What are the questions you should ask yourself as you approach a story? How do you decide which audiences to share it with? Why are you telling it? Crafting is about taking hold of the story frame and painting your own picture. Bring a story you are already working on or come with something new. We’ll take it apart, and put it back together with purpose!

Workshop - Poetry 101

Facilitators: Josephus Thompson III

Location: Kirby Auditorium

Time: November 4, 2023 11am-12:30pm

Intro to poetry and creative writing. Participants will learn to create and understand poetry in a whole new way. With emphasis on creativity and performance, we will awaken and connect to the poet in you. Over the course of the workshop participants will be taken through various exercises and activities as well as provided with tools to assist them to grasp new concepts and see poetry and literacy from a new point of view. Participants will learn how this art form can be used for positive change in their classrooms and communities to address problems, formulate solutions, battle peer pressure and expand the message of tolerance of diversity.

Workshop - "You've a Story to Tell"

Facilitators: DuPre Sanders

Location: Kirby Rebirth – Main Hall

Time: November 18, 2023 9am-12pm

Join pastor and storyteller DuPre Sanders as he teaches you how to discover forgotten people and places of your past. In this workshop, you will be encouraged to weave those memories into stories that you can tell to your children and grandchildren. Learn how fun it is to remember, create, and tell your own stories!

Audition Workshop: "Poetry as Theatre"

Facilitator: Fred Motley

Location: Kirby Rebirth - Main Hall

Time: December 2, 2023 - 11am-2pm

Fred Motley is a Storyteller/Theatre Director, he will guide workshop participants in transforming selected poems into acting. Using classic to contemporary poems, acting techniques, movement, and music, participants will bring poetry from the page to the stage. This workshop will also include auditions for performers for the Literary Arts Showcase at the Kirby Cultural Arts Complex on January 20, 2024. This workshop is an interactive experience approximate for all skill levels ages 15 years old through adults.