What is it?
A Readers’ Theater is an event where the school allows students to read their scripts out loud without needing to memorize their lines. No props were necessary, but some plays used them effectively. Readers’ Theater is an oral reading practice in which students act out the storyline to help them grasp it. Students portray characters in scripts or tales using their voices, facial expressions, and hand gestures. Through shared script and writing exercises, teachers and students may adapt cherished stories for readers’ theater. By simply encouraging pupils to read, readers’ theatre increases their spoken and written vocabularies. One of the reasons we read is to exercise our imagination. Because so much of what they encounter in our visual world involves performing, students are drawn to Readers’ Theater.
History of Readers’ Theater
Although group dramatic readings have been popular since the early 1800s, a New York group is credited with coining the phrase “readers theater.” The Readers Theater company, founded by Eugene O’Neill Jr. and Henry Alsberg in 1945, performed Oedipus Rex at the Majestic Theater on Broadway (Everything Explained, 2019, para. 2).
November 26, 2021
There were many plays on Friday that had a good plot and the acting, though there was no walking around on stage, were well-performed. In the auditorium, each class was able to act out their storyline while the judges watched and passed their critiques on them. Those who weren’t performing, stayed in their classrooms and used the projector to watch the plays. Between each play, there would be an advertisement. The advertisement could be a piano performance, or a commercial made by the fellow students of our school.
As one of those people who had to perform that day, I think I could say for the rest of the actors and actresses, that we were all nervous. When I was in the cafeteria with the whole Grade 10s, waiting for our turn to perform, I saw a lot of my classmates going over the script murmuring their lines nervously. There were also others who decided to recite their lines with their fellow actors.
I was sat with my friends as I reread my lines with them. Those who weren’t going to perform on stage were chatting with each other. There were a few times when the Grade 12 students or some of the teachers had to tell us to be quiet because there was a play happening and we were to loud. As both classes were lining up to leave the cafeteria, that was when I started to become nervous. Once we were sat in the B1 auditorium, the other class went on stage and performed first. I had to admit, they were good, really good, that only made me more anxious. I kept thinking I wouldn’t do my lines right or I’d stutter and mess the whole thing up. I did say some words uncertainly throughout our play, but I would say that both classes did exceptionally well and I was glad it was over.
The judges sat in the middle row on the left so it wouldn’t block the camera’s view of the plays. Some of the students from each grade were to sit in the auditorium while the others waited for their turn to perform. Microphones were put in front of each musical stand so each actor and actress can be heard clearly.
Everyone’s performances were great and in my opinion, the Readers’ Theater was a huge success, even though this is the first time the school has done it! Hopefully we can have this event next year!
Reference:
Bafile, C. (n.d.). Attention Required! | Cloudflare. Reading Rockets. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reader-s-theater-giving-students-reason-read-aloud
