Doug Larson
M.S.
Doug Larson, M.S., received his teaching degree from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and taught third grade and middle school in Dubois, Idaho. He was also the drama director for both the elementary and high school creating original productions for the school as well as directing well known shows such as the Wizard of Oz. He also taught 2nd graders English in South America for a year and used drama and puppets as a way to teach conversational English.
Doug is also a published playwright. In 1988, his first play "Nicolas Brooks" had instant success by winning the Youth Division at the Spokane Civic Theatre Forum Festival. He then formed his own theatre group in 1989 called Tailors of the Imagination.
In 1990, his play "A Man and His Plant" was produced at the Spokane Civic Theatre Forum Festival in the adult division. The play went on to win third place in a national contest and then was published by the Dramatic Publishing Company as a part of an anthology "Short Stuff for Mature Actors." When relocating to New Mexico, he taught drama at New Mexico State University and taught theatre game workshops to local schools. He started a theatre group called the Poco Loco Players, which won state level awards for acting.
Doug also started the successful website called freedrama.com which has provided free plays to schools and community groups around the world. His 2002 victory as a writer was being included in the Love Creek Production's play festival in New York City.
His monologue "Pearls of Wisdom" is the true story of the struggles young women face growing up in rural Idaho. Another success was a 2004 mid-west tour of his play "The Redneck" (renamed Operation Redneck) by the professional theatre group Retroact Productions. During this time, freedrama.com became very popular receiving thousands of visitors a day.
The plays on freedrama.com (now freedrama.net) have been performed on every continent including Antarctica. He also got involved in developing film projects as a writer and producer. In 2008, he started a new series about War Veterans. The series has been featured by Apple iTunes and YouTube. The most successful episode has been "Saving Lives in World War II" which won an Emmy Award in 2009 for best Advanced Media Historical Documentary (Rocky Mountain Region).
In 2010, he won a Telly Award for his full length documentary about a wildlife park in Arizona. And in 2011, he won a second Emmy Award for his short documentary about an organization called Paws and Stripes that helps veterans with PTSD by using service dogs.
Here is a video made by my wife and I for a 48 hour film project where we had to write a short movie based on film prompts (character named Kelly, prop [measuring tape], and line of dialog: “You only live once”). See the wacky results - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXMgYV0sN4Q
Offered Courses
WRITING PROMPTS: Inspiring Young Writers
Course No. ED465c, ED565c
This course helps young writers generate ideas for their writing. It will ignite their imagination and encourage their creativity. Writing prompts are an excellent tool for inspiration. Your K-12 students will have fun developing ideas. They may use brainstorming or written, visual or video prompts to come up with fun and exiting ways to express themselves. Designed for students with diverse learning styles. Gather some collegues, group learning is encouraged!
DRAMA GAMES
Course No. ED450J, ED540J
Learn how to use drama techniques to make everyday classroom lessons come to life. Drama Games give teachers a new educational tool for any subject by using improvisational theatre concepts as an active form of learning.
