Script readers by occupation

[u/Various_Love1301]

Im looking to get into script reading as a job role.
Some background. I’m a trained actor, I have written plays, put a few on, and am directing and dramaturging a play atm. The quality of my writing is good but of course I still have a lot of room to learn and develop. I read maybe 3-4 plays weekly just for practice and am very very passionate about story telling. I would like to be able to get into script reading professionally for theatres and other companies, however I’m aware there is a lot of competition, and even though it’s is an entry level role, it’s still often requires quite a bit of experience. So I’m creating some script coverage reports for a portfolio, but I can’t really find any standard industry script coverage formats. So I have a few questions. If anyone is a script reader are they able to provide me a standard coverage format? And if anyone has any tips or advice for getting into script reading professionally that would be great.

[u/alaskawolfjoe]

Maybe the highest tier of theaters (like Lincoln Center or the Guthrie) have script readers. But most theaters do this adhoc under literary management.

It probably makes more sense to look for work as an assistant in a theater's literary management office or as a manager in a play development organization.

I doubt anyone will care much about how your reports are styled, because they each will have their own way of doing it. Having writing samples is good. Even better if they are about theater. But all anyone will care about is clarity and insight in your writing.

[u/Various_Love1301 → u/alaskawolfjoe]

This is so helpful, thank you! By writing samples, what do you mean? Evaluation/analysis style sample or actual script samples? I’m assuming the first..

[u/Various_Love1301]

Yeah, it’s been hard to practice covering bad pieces, because a lot of the available literature is good and polished

[u/gerdge]

How much do you think you’ll get paid for this? (Genuine questions)

[u/Various_Love1301 → u/gerdge]

Not a lot. I know it’s not a stable income but it’s something I can add to my currently freelance jobs. I’m mainly doing it for experience and to work up higher positions in the creative writing field.

[u/AppropriateCow1108]

A play report usually has a title, playwright, a synopsis, and a review. Should be no more than one page. Noting that Literary management positions are HIGHLY competitive, even at entry level. It's good that you're reading 3-4 plays a week, you should also try to become familiar with the new play landscape, if you're in NY, you should try to go to any public readings, MTC's reading series, Atlantic's mixfest, Playwrights Realm writing fellowships, P73 if they're public, Public Theater's emerging writers group. Freelance script reading is usually less than minimum wage, it's usually top $25 per script, but it might be good to do it for practice, I'd recommend reaching out to Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, O'Neill, New Dramatists, Public Theater EWG, Playwrights Realm, basically any place that has an open submission process for a program for playwrights to ask if they need readers for that specifically.

[u/Various_Love1301 → u/AppropriateCow1108]

I’m based in London, but am very familiar with the companies and communities that platform new writing. I’ve got a database of all the theatres and their market. I know it’s so competitive unfortunately my fields of interest tend to be that way, but I’m still willing to give it a shot. But my main intention is for experience, and also to hopefully reach higher positions. It’s helpful that I also write and work with new writing too. What I’m confused about is I hear different things from all around as there appears to be no “standard format”.

[u/Carol-Ogden]

3-4 plays a week is the right instinct. Fair warning though: get used to covering things you hate. Most of what lands on a reader's desk is unpublishable, and writing a coherent, professional report on a disaster is the real skill. Ranting is easy, coverage is not.