CREATING A READER’S THEATER SCRIPT

Directions: For this assignment, you are to create your own Reader’s Theater script from an existing piece of
literature. Follow the steps below to create your script:

1. Select a text. Look for a text that has a lot of dialogue, conflict, emotion, and/or word-play. You might
consider using a folktale or fairy tale, a popular children’s story, a poem, or a classic work of literature
that might not otherwise be considered “accessible” in its appeal to an audience. You might also
consider a non-fiction piece of literature that is based on a powerful event (Civil Rights, the Holocaust,
Right to Life movement, etc.)

Examples of authors and/or titles to choose: Shel Silverstein, C.S. Lewis, Elie Wiesel, Frankenstein,
A Child Called It, Fallen Angels, etc.

2. Find a place in the text where the emotions, conflict, or humor are at a peak. Decide what will be your
beginning and end points.

3. Make a copy your selected text so you can put LOTS of writing and comments on the text.

4. Begin “cutting” the text. Here is where you will become the editor. Decide what portions of the text
could be left out of a script. This might be as simple as taking out the “he said” and “she said” portions,
or it might require excerpting a lot of narration. What reader’s theater does NOT usually do is ADD
anything to a text, or at least very little.

5. Determine voices. Once you have your selected your beginning and ending and omitted the portions of
the text that you will not use, decide how you want your selected text to be portrayed. How many voices
do you want? When should each voice speak individually? When might a voice be paired with another?
When might the entire group speak together? Highlight your voices in different colors so it will be easy
for you to create a script.

6. Once you have divided the text up according to voice, begin typing the text in script fashion:

VOICE 1: A great crowd of people were standing all round the Stone Table and though the mood was
shining many of them carried torches which burned with evil-looking red flames and black smoke.

VOICE 2: But such people! Ogres with monstrous teeth

VOICE 1: and wolves,

VOICE 3: and bull-headed men;

VOICE 1: spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants;

VOICE 2: and other creatures such as cruels

VOICE 3: and hags

VOICE 1: and Incubuses,

 VOICE 2: Wraiths

VOICE 1: Horrors

VOICE 2: Efreets

VOICE 3: Sprites

VOICE 1: Orknies

VOICE 3: Wooses

VOICE 2: and Ettins. In fact here were

ALL: all those who were on the Witch’s side

VOICE 2: and whom the Wolf had summoned at her command.

7. Select the voices who will perform your Reader’s Theater script and begin rehearsing!