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Author | Message |
Julia
Walk-On ![]() Joined: 9/14/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
![]() Posted: 11/17/07 at 7:29pm |
We are expanding our theatre program to include Readers Theatre, and would appreciate any suggestions, primarily one-acts. |
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StarDiva
Walk-On ![]() ![]() Joined: 12/29/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Julia, I'm sure hoping lots of people answer your request, because I'm wracking my brain, too, trying to come up with a good Reader's Theatre for our theatre some time in the next few months! Last year we did "When Bullfrogs Sing Opera" by Carl Williams. It's a relatively small cast, and being a one-set-show, it lent itself really well for RT. Good luck! Beth |
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BeJa
Walk-On ![]() Joined: 5/31/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Not a one act, but Love Letters by A.R. Gurney is great, especially if you have some older actors.
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Linda S
Celebrity ![]() Joined: 4/16/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 312 |
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I have done hundreds of readers theater pieces. I have also taught readers theater. I think where you are limiting yourself is in trying to find scripts. You can make your own scripts. Any form of literature can be adapted to reader's theater. Some of the best that I have seen have been narrative poetry or beautifully written prose. Newspaper and magazine articles juxtapositioned with short poems or song lyrics can be particularly fun. Also, look at children's books. They are full of rich language and defined characters. It means looking at the words in a different way. Deciding what it is you want to say, or better yet what you think the author is trying to say, and then assigning voices. It is a creative process in itself. Do you use one narrator, or two, or three or ten? Do the characters do the narrating? When do you overlap lines? Can an echo add to the piece. Should a line be be repeated? There are countless things that you can do. There are lots of books about how to create reader's theater pieces from existing literature. A Google search will turn up any number that you can choose from. Find one that suits your needs, and then let your imagination go wild.
Linda
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Julia
Walk-On ![]() Joined: 9/14/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Thanks for your thoughts. We did "Love Letters" several years ago for Readers/Dinner Theatre and had to turn people away. We may do that again sometime.
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Julia
Walk-On ![]() Joined: 9/14/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Thank you for your response. I know of another group that has done this, but I'm afraid that I'm not that brave. However, one never knows if someone in our group might just like to give it a whirl.
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Julia
Walk-On ![]() Joined: 9/14/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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As a beginning to our program we have already done "The Red Lamp", by Hilliard Booth, "The Neighbors" by Zona Gale, and next week will be doing "He Done her Wrong or Wedded But No Wife". by Anita Bell.
In the months to follow we plan to do a staged reading of "Spider Island"by Joseph Spalding, and another, "Starstruck" by Judy S. Cook who is a NC playwright.
We are doing these in addition to our mainstage offerings. We feel that this gives more people an opportunity to participate and learn. We find that our audiences love them, too, as we offer dessert, and are gearing up to do dinner as well.
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Linda S
Celebrity ![]() Joined: 4/16/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 312 |
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If you want something written, look at Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.
Linda
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