I’m doing a play reading and reading my own stage directions (I HAVE CONTROLLL) and it’s taking me back to all the times I read stage directions for other people and was clueless and failed VERY PUBLICLY. Which leads me to this very niche theater thread on How to Be a Reader

This is a classic “foot in the door” job that cuts across disciplines (you may end up doing it as an intern/actor/SM/ASM/Asst director). Unfortunately it’s also a job where you stick out really quickly if you’re doing it funny.

The literal job is you read all the stage directions during rehearsal and a public reading (if any). But the spiritual job is you’re an omniscient narrator evoking all the things we can’t see without a full production, while also not pulling focus. It's actually a skill!

First off what to read and not read. DO READ the play title and playwright’s name. DON’T READ the location/front matter/character descriptions unless the director asks for it. DO READ Scene Number, Act Number, End of Act. And End of Play (get your applause yo).

In a public reading it’s also your job to announce the intermission/length. (i.e. “End of Act 1. There will now be a 10 minute intermission.”) It's also courteous before starting to make eye contact with SM/Actors just to make sure they're all ready to go.

DON’T READ anything the actors can act out on their own just with line readings, ie. tempo indicators (pause/beat/silence) or tonal adverbs (i.e. quietly, angrily). If you say “Pause” over an actor who’s already dramatically pausing, the entire room WILL side eye you.

DO READ big blocks of indented stage direction. This is usually crucial location/action we can’t divine without hearing. The first time around read it in its entirety. The director may later thin out what gets read, but *you didn’t make a mistake having read the whole thing*

Parentheticals within dialogue are more tricky. Some actors will want to act it and not have it spoken, some actors will mime things WHILE you read out what they’re miming, some action is impossible to guess unless your explicitly read it. Feeling it out is part of the process

Inevitably actors will jump over you while you’re reading, or pause expecting you to read something you didn’t. To some extent that’s ok; this is what rehearsal is for. Try to be assertive yet inobtrusive - be consistent in what you are/aren’t reading and maintain their pace

Some directors make a point of saying in the room which directions they do/don’t want read – DEFINITELY LISTEN for that. Also it’s ok during a break to go script in hand and ask the director about specific SDs they do/don’t want. If it affects cue pickup, alert the SM/actors.

Honestly THE MOST important part of the job is just to be loud and clear. I’m not an actor so I’d get all shyguy about being semi-in-the-spotlight, but VOLUME IS A MUST and so is cue pickup – if you’re gonna speak in public, you might as well be heard. K go get em! (PAUSE!)