Cold reading is a term used by actors and other performers in theatre, television, film, and performance fields. A cold reading is a reading aloud from a script or other text without any rehearsal, practice or study in advance. It is also sometimes referred to as sight-reading.
Cold readings are employed frequently in actor auditions, to allow the employer or playwright to get a general idea of the actors' performing capabilities. They are also used for performance classes and by playwrights who need to hear their play read aloud by actors. Many actors and other performers and public speakers take classes and practice at length to improve the quality of their cold readings.
Cold reading can also be used in conjunction with improvisations to gauge a performer's ability to perform new works. A good dramatic cold reader is able to communicate with fluency and clarity and to project speech rhythms and rhymes well. He should also be able to bring out the intent, mood and characterization of a piece through appropriate articulation and body language.
Famous quotes containing the words cold and/or reading:
“I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices. I thought that there was no need of ice to freeze them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“They don’t advertise for killers in the newspaper. That was my profession. Ex-cop. Ex- blade runner. Ex-killer.”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Rick Deckard, Blade Runner, reading the newspaper—his opening lines (1982)