ABSTRACT
A useful device is for the director (or the cast, if there is no director) to change the casting by reversing the male and female roles, so that the men are played by women and vice versa. Another trick is simply to change the casting so that players are reading a different character from the one that they will be playing. For times when casting is not certain, more than one read-through with changing casting is useful; it enables the director to see new possibilities in the group and to get past the first impressions produced by a player who is a good sightreader and another person who may be dyslexic or nervous when reading aloud. In subsequent read-throughs the Pointing exercise (p. 110) is invaluable as it makes all relationships clear. The Receiving exercise (p. 127) is also helpful as it gives players a chance to listen to each other and provides, as does the Pointing, a firm basis for learning lines.
