RE: RAT Readings

["Sylvain, John" <jsylvain@station.sony.com>]

As an artistic director I like readings because 1) Its nice to have people
read something to you, it reminds me of bedtime when I was a child. 2) A
reading makes things apparent (good and bad) that reading silently may not
reveal.

It seems to me that readings are good for playwrights because they get to
hear their work spoken and they know that somebody is paying attention to
the work that they have wraught. 

Readings feel like a waste of time when the play is bad. The listeners don't
like it and don't want to do the play and the playwright wonders why nothing
happened after the reading was finished. The problem is, of course, that
most plays are bad (If you don't believe me, put out a call for submissions
and read what you get) so most readings are going to feel like a waste of
time.

That doesn't mean that Readings are a waste of time. It just sometimes feels
that way.

My two cents.

Love
John