The extensive use of improvisational techniques in rehearsals for chamber theatre productions develops for the performer a strong engagement with the text. The director can channel the movement and gestures that emerge from these techniques into the production itself, with results that more effectively convey the literature than traditional…

This book explores the art of oral interpretation of literature and presents exercises designed to encourage awareness of various aspects of the interpretation process. Chapter one, "Harnessing Resources," examines the awakening of the body and voice and discusses basic sensory training. Chapter two, "Responding to Literary Worlds," details the…

The field of oral interpretation has been influenced by both the analytical approach to literature study, with significant emphasis on understanding the literary text, and the interpersonal approach. While oral reading may utilize various performance arts or media such as dance, music, or film, the most popular movement currently is Readers…

The 12 articles in this issue of "Indiana English Journal" are concerned with drama and oral interpretation in the classroom. Titles of articles are: "Up in the Tree, Down in the Cave, and Back to Reading: Creative Dramatics"; "Pantomime: The Stepping Stone to Drama"; "The Living Literature of Readers' Theatre"; "Do-It-Yourself Drama"; "Drama for…

Three performance problems encountered in storytelling are: subordinating the perspective of individual characters to that of the storyteller; the role of the audience; and the undefined boundary between reader and audience. The concept of "Gestus" as espoused in the dramatic theory of Bertolt Brecht offers an approach to the performance…

Provides an annotated bibliography of sources that will help teachers select materials and structure activities in oral interpretation, readers theatre, improvisation, and creative speaking for the English classroom. (MM)

The purpose of this second book of 21 self-contained essays is the same as that of the first volume published in 1972: to bring together the scholarly theory and current research regarding oral interpretation. One third of the essays are centered on literature itself: prose fiction, poetry, and the drama. These essays discuss topics such as point…

During the 1950s, when it first began, Readers Theatre was textual in its emphasis; it involved the group reading of literature and the staging of poems and poets' stories, essays, and scenes. In its second stage, during the sixties, Readers Theatre became a directors' art; it was the director who adapted and arranged the literature and whose…

Defining readers theatre as a form of aesthetic communication that encompasses ensemble or group oral interpretation including dramatic production of literature, this annotated bibliography emphasizes traditional theory and practice. The 34-item bibliography cites material from the following types of sources and topics: (1) books and journals; (2)…

More than 800 publications released from 1911 through 1975 dealing with the oral interpretation of literature are listed in this index. The publications are divided into four major groups: books, collected essays, articles, and theses and dissertations. Within each grouping, items are listed in chronological order according to publication date. A…

Discusses dramatic activities and techniques useful in the teaching of foreign languages. A distinction is made between theater and other dramatic activities; the latter ranges from reading theater to skits learned by memory. Two examples of activities are suggested for the teacher. (AMH)