Staged Readings
Theater bona fides are established by discovering new theater productions in the following order:
Post Tony Award = Too late, this is for international and Midwestern tourists only, might as well wear an “I heart NYC” shirt to the show
Post Opening = Also too late, if the show is any good you’re paying full price for tickets, that’s ridiculous
Previews = If you couldn’t catch the show earlier, this is the absolute latest any respectable New Yorker sees a show
Off Broadway = Better
Off Off Broadway = Even better
Stage reading = The best
Stage readings are hosted by theater companies to test new material on a live audience. They give the audience a unique opportunity to participate in the creative process and to meet playwrights, directors, and actors working in the theater.
Readings range from literal readings with scripts in hand to more formal presentations with staging, props, and costumes. Audience feedback is often solicited after the performance.
To up your arts and theater credibility, Maxamoo collected details on 14 readings series hosted by some of New York’s most innovative theater companies.
Soon you’ll be snidely commenting on the latest big hit: “oh, I saw a staged reading of that months ago.”
Abingdon Theater
Abingdon’s reading series is a two-step process. First, the First Reading is a basic reading that provides a playwright the opportunity to hear his or her work read aloud. Select plays are then given a Staged Reading with more rehearsal time and expanded staging and directing. Both First Readings and Staged Readings are followed by moderated audience discussions.
Next: TBA
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New Perspectives Theatre Company
Off the Page produces limited run productions of plays developed in New Perspectives Theatre Company’s Women’s Work Lab. The Lab provides emerging and mid-career female playwrights dramaturgical and directorial support that takes their plays beyond staged readings and puts them on their feet at Off the Page.
Next: Sad Mad Glad Bad
July 27 – 30
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The Amoralists
The Amoralists, a daring, smart, indie theater company, hosts a frequent, if irregular, reading series called the AmoraLab at which company member read selections from multiple works.
Next: Fat Cat Killers, Kitsch, Jimmy’s Corner, & Lindsay Linzi
July 30
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Dixon Place
Dixon Place hosts several Works-in-Progress events every month. Performances vary from traditional play readings to puppetry, dance, and performance art. The series emphasizes diversity of discipline and perspective and encourages risk-tasking. Tickets range from free to $18.
Next: I Lived in This Woman, Once
August 5
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Theater Now New York
The Raw Reading Series presents scripts that can be at any point in the developmental process. The goal of the series is to allow both audience and performers to experience theater in a spontaneous and impromptu way. Audience feedback is an integral part of this process. The feedback often helps the theater group decide whether to move forward with a project.
Next: TBD
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Labyrinth
The Labyrinth Theater Company hosts the Barn Series, a reading series that puts the audience directly “into the crossfire of our play development process.” Audience feedback is invited. All readings are free and open to the public.
Next: TBD
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Elephant Run District
The Elephant Run District theater company hosts Stampede Lab, a curated evening of performances by diverse indie theater companies. At each event three 15-minute excerpts of in-progress productions are performed by the developing theater company. The performance is followed by brief interviews of the performers by one of ERD’s cofounders.
Next: TBD
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La Mama
The Experiments Play Reading Series is held monthly from September through May. It gives emerging playwrights opportunities to test their work in front of audiences and receive constructive feedback. All play readings in the series are free and open to the public to encourage actors, playwrights and community members to enjoy the series.
Next: TBD
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WorkShop Theater Company
WorkShop Theater Company hosts regular readings, next is a three day staged reading of A Requiem for Sherlock Holmes, a full length play, with a cast of 12, adapted by Greg Oliver Bodine from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Final Problem and The Adventure of The Empty House. The tickets are free but limited to 4 per person.
Next: A Requiem for Sherlock Holmes
August 9, 10, and 11
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York Theater Company
The York Theater Company develops new musical theater. Critical to that process is the York Development Reading Series. It is free and open to the public. Reservations are encouraged.
Next: A Girl Called Vincent
August 8
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Truffle Theater Company
The Truffle Hunt Reading Series is a monthly reading series hosted by Brooklyn-based Truffle Theatre Company at the 61 Local Public House in Cobble Hill. This group focuses on creating an artistic haven for otherwise un-performed works. With a focus on accessible theater, many of the readings are free.
Next: Unman, Wittering and Zigo
August 19th
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Red Bull Readings
This OBIE award-winning reading series features new plays and rarely-performed classical texts. Red Bull Theater (the company, not the energy drink) is committed to the rediscovery of lesser-known texts and uses this series to give these shows life on a New York City stage.
Next: TBD
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Amas Musical Theatre
The Six O’Clock Musical Theatre Labs Series is a development program for writers, lyricists, and composers to mount staged readings of their new musicals. These are generally first or early reads with an established director and performers, typically after a 29 hour rehearsal period.
Next: TBD
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Bloodworks
The Ensemble Studio Theater’s group Youngblood, an OBIE award-winning group of playwrights and performers under the age of 30, stages the readings each summer to show off their new full-length plays. All the plays are written and performed by Youngblood members and all readings are free with no reservation necessary.
Next: TBD
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