Staged Readings: Polishing the Play
Besides novels, screenplays and short stories, I also write plays. I started writing my play American Right, a political mystery, in late 2008. There were several drafts. In August, 2009, I staged a reading at Besant Hill School's excellent theater in Ojai, where the invited audience heard the play read by actors in character. This is called a "staged reading," and they happen all the time in theaters across America.
Generally, there's no "business" or very much movement. Usually the actors sit on stage in chairs or stools with a music stand or table for their script and just read their part in character. Some directors will have the actors move from one place of reading to another, from a couch to a stool, but nothing close to production level.
A staged reading is very entertaining; it's a different form of theater. Reader's theater applies the same "reading" of the script, but the actors have polished their performances with pacing, character development and sometimes even props. A staged reading is the baby sister of reader's theater, which is the middle sister between a staged reading and a full-blown performance.
Where reader's theater is presented for the benefit of an audience, a staged reading is presented to an audience for the benefit of the playwright. The playwright has the opportunity to hear the play interpreted by actors, an important element in finding the rhythm, pacing, and beats. Nothing brings out forced characterization and unbelievable dialogue as well as hearing the play read by good actors.
Before beginning a few rehearsals for the staged reading of American Right, I have to admit that I believed my script was 80% (not dull but tarnished). I directed the staged reading. In rehearsals, the actors were able to illuminate the dialogue where it worked well. That's just as important as finding the flaws. For me, there's nothing more tragic than changing dialogue, plot or characterization that would have worked. Also, during rehearsals, we discovered awkward dialogue, details that needed to be clearer (this was a mystery and needed precise construction for it to work), and inconsistent character traits. So after rehearsals, I believed my script was about 90% (clean with bright spots). I predicted that after the one-night performance and the written feedback, like some good old-fashioned elbow grease, I'd have the insight to do the hardest labor on a final draft. I was confident I could polish the script to a beautiful 100% sheen.
Over thirty members of the audience filled out the feedback form. And many of the comments were repeated, which encouraged me to really look at what it was they were telling me and to re-write it. What the comments did most was focus my attention on the weak areas of the script that were keeping excellence at bay. So I invited honesty from everyone and got it. It paid off more than I expected.
After my final draft, I felt it was close to 100% but needed more work. The play was slated for the second slot of The Elite Theatre Company's 2010 season. Rather than work the poor thing to death, though, I knew that, as director, I would be able to make more changes during the six-week rehearsal period. And I did. Once we began blocking and working the scenes (polish, polish, polish), cracks in the script appeared. None were catastrophic. In fact, the work I put into the script after the staged reading was the best work, because it came not just from my own head but from the heads of several actors and an audience.
It was my first experience with a staged reading. I'm sold on the value of this method for repairing and polishing a script.
Tomorrow night at The Elite Theatre Company, Kimberly Demmary, a fellow actor (in fact, she played a lead in American Right) and playwright, will present a staged reading of her play at my theater. This time I get to be an audience member. I told her I would bring the big old cloth if she'd bring the Turtle Wax . . . . Okay, I never said that. But I should have.
Comments