SKITuations – Reader’s Theater Tips2018-09-19T14:30:07+00:00

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Read SKITuations Stories “Reader’s Theater” Style

SKITuations homeschool use logo.

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What is “Reader’s Theater”?

“Reader’s Theater” is a staged reading of a skit or a play. 

Children, teens, or adults dress in costume and present an animated, creative reading of the script. They “pretend” to interact using pantomime and facial expressions.

This is “hassle-free” drama! 

No lines to memorize, no blocking to rehearse, no sets to build. Just dress up as your character, and practice reading the script with personality! Christian Reader’s Theater is fun and memorable!

  • A framed picture of a family reading a SKITuations script for children's church at the breakfast table.

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    Enjoy “Reader’s Theater” With Your Family.

    Of course, you can just read the SKITuations scripts “normally,” but if you want to teach your children how to use the classic form of “Reader’s Theater,” here are some quick tips:

Techniques of Performing “Reader’s Theater”

  1. Formation: The audience should be able to understand the relationships just by looking at the arrangement of characters. Place the main character (s) either downstage (closest to the audience), alone, or at a higher level. Lay the scripts on music stands, so actors have their hands free for pantomime.
  2. Characterization: Become the character by dressing the readers up in full character costume, including character props, and behaviors-like being nervous, angry, chatty, etc. Remember, talk with your hands and your voice; your face can’t be seen well from a distance.
  3. Pantomime: This is the skill of “pretending” that something is there when it is not. React to things with your body, face, and voice. Open doors in mid-air, wash your hands in a pretend sink, wrinkle up your face to a smelly sock, and watch the audience’s imaginations explode. You can even “pretend” to hand someone an item in mid-air, while the other character reaches into mid-air to grad it. That’s really fun!
  4. Focal points: In Reader’s Theater, the actors do not relate to each other; instead, their eyes meet at a “focal point,” which is simply actors looking at the same spot over the audience’s heads. Agree on a “focal” point where all the actor’s eyes meet when the script is read. If two actors are outside, have them focus on a spot that they agree is “outside,” while the other actors focus on a different spot. When the actor’s eyes meet in a spot that differs from where they were before, the “setting has changed.” When a door opens, all the actor’s heads focus on a new focal point, the door.
  5. The Narrator: Select one reader to be “the narrator,” who describes settings and fills in the information that cannot be acted out in pantomime. For example, “Harvey chased Tina across the grassy field.”
  6. On and Off Stage: When a character “leaves the scene,” his/her head is down which means, “I am not in this scene.” Lifting the head up and moving the eyes to the focal point means “I’m back.”
  7. Practice: Reader’s Theater is fun and easy, but read the script through to agree on the “focal points,” and practice your pantomime.