Reader's Theatre
Readers Theatre or Reader's Theater is a style of theatre in which the actors do or do not memorize their lines. In Readers Theatre, actors use vocal expression to help the audience understand the story rather than visual storytelling such as sets, costumes, and intricate blocking.
Readers Theatre is also known as Chamber Theatre or Interpretive Theatre. Readers Theatre has no apostrophe in the name because it is not a theatre owned by readers, rather it is an interpretive art form by readers.
Readers Theatre became popular during and following the second World War when resources to produce plays were scarce. A common Readers Theatre will be presented using only the scripts and stools or chairs. Limited costuming is sometimes used. While the readers may interpret the scenes or poems cold, in most cases the scripts are memorized and rehearsals are conducted with even more intensity than those conducted for a regular play.
Read more about Reader's Theatre: Theatre in Education
Famous quotes containing the words reader and/or theatre:
“The power of a text is different when it is read from when it is copied out.... Only the copied text thus commands the soul of him who is occupied with it, whereas the mere reader never discovers the new aspects of his inner self that are opened by the text, that road cut through the interior jungle forever closing behind it: because the reader follows the movement of his mind in the free flight of day-dreaming, whereas the copier submits it to command.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“A good drama critic is one who perceives what is happening in the theatre of his time. A great drama critic also perceives what is not happening.”
—Kenneth Tynan (1927–1980)