ABSTRACT
A great aspect of reader’s theatre is that participants read from a script of their own words, not from memorized lines of a prewritten manuscript. In fact, there is no memorization involved, merely reading and oral expression (which developed nicely with practice). Even better, the words being read to the audience are words of which the students have ownership. These words have been processed through their background of knowledge and experience. These words mean something. They are their interpretation of the literature, their analysis and evaluation of the literature. Reader’s Theatre had given the students a sense of ownership of Shakespeare’s work. An improvement in their oral reading skills and tonation was evident. Reader’s Theatre had taken a Shakespearean comedy and enabled the students to relate it to their world. They had dissected this play and put it back together beautifully.
