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C u r r i c u l u m B a s e d R e a d e r s T h e a t r e
Readers Theatre | Curriculum
Based Readers Theatre | About
Scripts | Sample
Scripts
What is Readers Theatre?
Traditional Readers Theatre is a rehearsed group presentation
of a script. Rather than memorizing their lines, performers read
aloud from hand-held scripts. Lines are distributed among individuals,
pairs, small groups, and the whole group. Readers Theatre emphasizes
the spoken words, not staged scenes. Performers remain seated
or standing; they rarely enter and exit and move about the stage.
The script is always present and in full view of the audience.
Readers Theatre performances are enhanced by incorporating sound
effects, music, and gestures.
What is Curriculum-Based Readers
Theatre?
Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre differs from traditional Readers
Theatre in that its script topics come directly from classroom
curriculum, not from published scripts or stories. Curriculum-Based
Readers Theatre (CBRT) scripts are based on curriculum content.
CBRT's written emphasis is on both informing and entertaining
through dialogue. Playwrights are often commissioned to create
scripts about specific topics. If playwrights can take pieces
of information, historical episodes, or narratives and adapt them
as scripts with lines of dialogue, students and teachers can do
something similar with the contents of a textbook, a novel, or
almost any information source. Playwrights create lines of dialogue
for a given number of characters; students and teachers can write
lines so that every member of their group--or even the entire
class--has a speaking role.
The Sample Curriculum Based Readers Theatre Scripts
The following sample scripts were developed by Rosalind Flynn
with students in classrooms or with teachers in professional development
workshops. They serve as examples and may be used with students
"as is," or they may be edited to more effectively serve
your curriculum or your students. The numbers on the left hand
side of the script indicate the speaker's assigned number.