Reading plays

 One of the things that I miss most about theatre is the discovery of new plays.  I simply don't read plays like I used to.  Naturally, when I was a theatre student, I read lots of plays either for class or for pleasure.  And I saw a lot of new plays.  When I was a freshman, I just loved going to see shows that I knew nothing about.  I got to see some great performances that way in some very intriguing shows.

And by discovering new plays, I don't necessarily mean plays that are current.  I always enjoyed going back and reading either classic or obscure plays that I needed to add to my repertoire.  And my taste ran the gamut from Shakespeare and Moliere to Chekov, Miller and Simon.  They weren't always the greatest of plays, but I enjoyed them none the less.

Auditioning for the shows each season in school also led to finding new material.  Sometimes I would latch onto a role after reading a play.  I did that with "Point of Order", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Equus".  Sometimes it worked out and I got the part.  Sometimes I did not for one reason or another.  Other times, I would only read the sides when auditioning so that, in case I didn't get the role, I would enjoy the experience of seeing the show with very few expectations.  I did that when I read for Dr. Gibbs in "Our Town".  I was surprised I had never read it or seen it before, but was thoroughly impressed with our school's production.  When I auditioned for Tony Kushner's adaptation of "The Illusion", I didn't read the whole play and loved discovering it through the rehearsal process.

I miss theatre.  I really do.  Every aspect of it.  But I think that, right now, one of the easiest ways for me to reintroduce myself to it is to start reading plays again.  Now that I enjoy reading, as an adult, that should be easy for me.  I'll add that to my list!

That is all.