Explores the extent to which the scholarship of interpretation-in-performance parallels the knowledge of written literary criticism and contends that solo and group performance is a form of "published scholarship". (MH)

The interrelationship of performers, text, and audience in reader's theater may be better understood through philosopher Martin Buber's key concepts of polarity, dialogue, and inclusion. These concepts operate within four polar tensions identified by Buber: that between the performer and the character represented; that between the performer and…

Defines metaphorical staging as group interpretation that gives a ritual or symbolic stage form to literature and illustrates this concept by describing the staging of D. H. Lawrence's story "The Horse Dealer's Daughter". (MH)

Provides six classroom exercises to stimulate student awareness of the principles of Readers Theater. Emphasizes the use of scripts and space, flexibility of voice and body, staging, pantomime, and characterization. (PD)

Sample critique sheets are included. (RD)

This document presents a rationale for using reader's theatre in the classroom. It briefly discusses some of the conventions that distinguish reader's theatre from traditional theatrical productions, including direction of voice and action to the audience, and the use of scripts. The major portion of the paper offers seven exercises on the…

This journal issue deals with the ways in which elements of a literary text specify the manner in which an oral interpreter will present the text to an audience. After an introductory statement, four poems by a contemporary poet are presented as sample texts. Four commentators discuss the ways these poems might be interpreted to an audience, and…

One of the rhetorical dimensions on which theatre exists is the rhetoric of production. This implies that the production, through examples, takes and urges an attitude toward the text. This argument provides a foundation for both the nature and the implications of interpreters theatre productions that advocate social issues. Theatrical…

The field of oral interpretation has been influenced by both the analytical approach to literature study, with significant emphasis on understanding the literary text, and the interpersonal approach. While oral reading may utilize various performance arts or media such as dance, music, or film, the most popular movement currently is Readers…

The author states that because of recent interest in readers theatre, or concert readings, some objective methods of assessing audience response should be developed. In the first section of the paper, she provides a rationale for a critical suggestions form. The author's guidelines for an evaluation form include the use of expert judges, an…

Designed to help students respond in a positive way to poetry, poetry theater integrates dramatic technique with various aspects of reading, writing, analyzing, and reciting poetry. Poetry theater presentations require approximately five class periods to complete, allowing 45 minutes per class. The first class period should be devoted to choral…

Three performance problems encountered in storytelling are: subordinating the perspective of individual characters to that of the storyteller; the role of the audience; and the undefined boundary between reader and audience. The concept of "Gestus" as espoused in the dramatic theory of Bertolt Brecht offers an approach to the performance…

The eight articles in this booklet suggest activities designed to help students see drama as an active, engaging pursuit. The first article uses excerpts from Harold Pinter's "The Caretaker" to illustrate how improvisation can be used to help students discover meaning in a play. The second and third articles provide suggestions for…

During the 1950s, when it first began, Readers Theatre was textual in its emphasis; it involved the group reading of literature and the staging of poems and poets' stories, essays, and scenes. In its second stage, during the sixties, Readers Theatre became a directors' art; it was the director who adapted and arranged the literature and whose…