A Prologue, Part 2

Why read a play a week? In fact, why read plays at all?

It's not like I don't see enough. Though I don't have the record-keeping gene that my better half possesses, I saw a mess-o-theatre in 2008. Some of it was great, some mediocre, but all of it taught me something. There's no doubt: seeing theatre is an absolutely vital part of a life in the theatre.

But it's not everything.

I think it was Sheldon Patinkin who drilled it into me: part of a life in theatre is reading plays. There are far too many actors who stop reading scripts once they leave school. Perhaps they'll read shows they are auditioning for, or shows they are in ... but not even that is guaranteed. Headshots, trips to the agency, fitness, networking ... these are all things a professional keeps up on with ease. It's "part of the job". But reading plays falls easily by the wayside.

Theatre is a collaborative artform: you can't do it alone. That's its blessing and curse. Especially as an actor, you are often waiting for an opportunity. So how do you exercise those theatre skills when you're not actually making theatre? Reading plays is one of the great ways to do it: working out what you'd do in a particular show or with a particular role, analyzing different challenges and styles that you might not be familiar with.

That doesn't even touch on the practical considerations. Reading plays is the only way to find contemporary monologues that aren't overused, because once it hits those dreadful collections it is all but useless. Reading plays prepares you for working with directors and other actors who have experience, and leaves you with some response for that common comment "this is just like ...". Reading plays gives you a facility for reading plays, for quickly analyzing a new script that you're handed moments before an audition.

Here's where money and mouth intersect. I counsel students at the Theatre Arts Conservatory that they need to be reading scripts as part of their training, at least one a month. After all, it only takes an hour or two to read a complete play, and is essential exercise.

I can't very well encourage young actors to do something I'm too lazy to manage, can I?

(Well, of course I can. That's not the point. Stop being cheeky.)