Open City, Open Reading

Okay, my pets,

Here it is, my first entry for our Play Reading Group, Winter '09.

We will gather this Monday, Feb 2nd at 6 pm to carpool into Portland to catch the Concert Reading of Open City, a group show of short plays from PlayGroup, the playwrights I work with at Portland Center Stage. The show starts at 7:30 at the Gerding Theatre at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave, and is free as part of the Fertile Ground New Works Festival.

You should have all received an email over the weekend including copies of eight of the nine plays which will be featured at the reading. I recommend reading them before seeing them-- or maybe you want to read some beforehand and some after to compare the experiences, that's perfectly valid.

Part of what I want to address in class is how to read a play-- and since plays are written not to be read but to be spoken, inhabited, acted and shared, experimenting with just what your own experience is like reading a text vs. hearing or seeing it performed.

So, I encourage you to take notes on your experience as a reader and/or audience member. What do you like or dislike? What confuses or bothers you? What engages you? No right or wrong answers here, just examining your own experience. Part of what is wonderful about theatre is that while everyone sees the same show, in some ways everyone sees a different show.

See you Monday. Oh, and please chime in so I know you've found your way here.

Thanks,

althea