We are expanding our theatre program to include Readers Theatre, and would appreciate any suggestions, primarily one-acts.

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

 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.