Off-Roading
May 2, 2010
On Friday evening, we hosted the first staged reading under our ‘Off Road Series’ umbrella (and the second reading overall for this company). This most recent reading was of FOUR WOMEN IN SEARCH OF A CHARACTER by Diane Grant.
If you have not yet been to a reading, I’d like to encourage you to make it a point to attend the next one. Why? To me, these readings are an opportunity to get to know us and how we operate, maybe even more so than other events hosted by the Red Brick Brick Road Theatre Company.
A staged reading is a presentation on a different level for the actor, the audience, and the writer; it’s more inclusive. There’s an atmosphere of ideas that I find stimulating. The production aspects—lighting, costumes, set, sound—are stripped away. It becomes all about the script and the interpretation of it. At the conclusion of the reading, we host a Q&A and, for me, that’s the part that’s most energizing.
We’ve all left certain plays or a movies with unanswered questions: why did the main character make this choice, when he could’ve just done that? What ever happened to the little girl who disapppeared from the plot halfway through the film? At a reading you actually get to ask the author. Who knows, you might be the person to help that author close a major plot hole.
Even if you choose not to join the discussion, invariably there is someone there who makes insightful observations. He or she ends up enlarging your ideas about the script you’ve just heard.
As a member of this theatre company, I see each installment of the Off Road Series as our contribution to the world of theatre. Each person in attendance is plugged directly into the theatre scene and has the potential to influence the way the world views live, scripted performance in Los Angeles.
So next time, come on out and see if you agree with me. At the very least, we’ll all pop out for a bite to eat or some drinks afterward. And that’s a great way to get to know us, too.
–Christine Macedo
