Lesson 4: ORAL INTERPRETATION

Topics
Solo Interpretation
Group Interpretation
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
differentiate the two general types of communication;
distinguish the different types of solo and group;
display enthusiasm in delivering solo and group interpretation; and
demonstrate skill in delivering solo and group interpretation

Oral interpretation is the art of communicating a piece of literature in its emotional,

intellectual, and aesthetic entirely to an audience. Oral interpretation is one of the theatre arts,
like Reader’s Theater, where a literary work is read to an audience. The performer/interpreter
reads from a manuscript.

TRADITIONAL ROOTS OF ORAL READING

One of the oldest roots of speech is the oral interpretation of literature. This
performance is variously called oral reading, reading aloud, or interpretative reading.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the oral performance of literature was known as ‘elocution’;
today, it is referred to as ‘expression’. Ancient literature, before the invention of printing was
originally read aloud. Historians read their works, poets recited their poems during festivals, even
going from town to town as bards.

THE CONCEPT OF ORAL INTERPRETATION

Interpretation is the study of literature
through the oral performance of a speaker who
creates and recreates the meaning and mood of the
selection. In this manner, interpretation becomes a
“performing art” because the interpreter “realizes”
and “actualizes” the literary work he is reciting.
He (the interpreter) makes real the scene, makes lifelike the characters, and
renders natural and convincing moods of the selection. This enables the listener to ‘see’
the scenes for themselves and actually ‘feel’ the emotions in the literary piece.

THE PROCESS OF ORAL INTERPRETATION

Interpretation is the study of literature through the oral performance of a speaker
who creates and recreates the meaning and mood of the selection. In this manner,
interpretation becomes a “performing art” because the interpreter “realizes” and
“actualizes” the literary work he is reciting.
1. The entire process begins as the original author of the literary piece – the sender –
encodes his thoughts, feelings, and ideas into a printed poem, prose, or play.
2. The printed piece will be a selection – the message – which the oral interpreter
may choose.
3. The interpreted reads the printed text; he decodes the lines and stanzas, and tries
to understand, feel, and react to it before he interprets it to the audience.
 4. As he becomes clear and definite about the meanings he has created, he encodes
these meanings (message) into an interpretative performance.
5. In his oral interpretation of the poem or prose (message) he uses his voice, his
body movements, and other performance techniques (channels) in order to
transmit and project his message.
6. The auditory and the visual stimuli provided by the oral interpreter are heard and
seen by the listening audience (receiver)who react to his voice, body movements,
and all other stimuli that accompany the oral performance.
7. However, the audience may not provide a direct feedback to the oral interpreter.
An applause at the end of the performance may provide a direct feedback to the
oral interpretative performance.
I. READING ALOUD
Reading aloud is not expressing the printed selection in a booming voice, a
sudden outburst or in an overly distinct voice. It is the process of reading orally for the
audience, using the elements of voice in order to convey the meaning and mood of the
selection accurately.
It is not merely repeating words and reciting lines. It is ‘internalizing’ the piece –
thinking, understanding, and feeling the author’s meaning and mood, using the proper
quality, pitch, intensity, rate, including pausing, phrasing, and bodily actions to actualize
the mood as intended by the writer.
In doing this, the reader becomes the interpreter, for he transforms the printed
selection into a ‘living speech’, recreating for his audience the thoughts and feelings of
the writer as accurately as he can.
However, it is not the interpreter alone who creates this total effect, his
background knowledge of the writer together with the response of his audience ably
assist him in the act of oral interpretation.
A. READING POETRY
Projecting the meaning and creating mood in poetry comes naturally because of
its metrical stress and built-in rhythm. A lilting style suggesting a light and happy mood,
a deliberately slow measured style suggesting a sedate, dignified attitude or a serious
mournful or reflective mood are some possibilities poetry can offer the interpreter.
The poem’s rhythm may also create a melody and an individual speaking pattern.
Remember, though, that you must not fall into sing-song rime that will lead to
monotonous pattern.
Some poems, such as nursery rhymes and non-sense verse, may be read in
metrical stress, but in poetry conveying a definite message, rhythm must go hand in hand
with meaning because one will be lost without the other.
Poems that suggest definite meanings are narrative poems, poems of
characterization, poems of feeling and emotion, descriptive poems, and religious
philosophical poems.

MECHANICS OF INTERPRETING POETRY

Good oral reading and interpretation entails good preparation – the thorough
understanding of the selection and the proper expression of the literary piece.
A. UNDERSTAND THE SELECTION
1. Read the selection silently; know the background story.
2. Consider the attitude, feelings, and emotions or temperament of the author to
determine the style.
3. Identify words and ideas you need to emphasize.
4. Recall your own experiences to help you in understanding the author’s mood and
to guide you in recreating the author’s feelings.
B. EXPRESS THE SELECTION
1. Emphasize the meaning. Read the selection accurately without adding,
subtracting, or changing any word or phrase. Inaccuracies will lean to confused
translation to the audience.
2. Emphasize the mood.
 Use your voice effectively to show your feelings and moods.
 Have a good control of your manner of speaking – use the appropriate rate,
phrasing, and pausing depending on the mood.
 Use appropriate gestures, facial expression, and body movements to suit the
material.

BODILY ACTION FOR EXPRESSION

Closely related to rhythm and meaning is the body movement. Interpretation must
not only be vocal but also physical. Our voice cannot do the work of conveying meaning
and mood alone; the body must also coordinate with the voice so that rhythm and bodily
action act as one. Your actions must be sincere, spontaneous, fresh, forceful and convincing.
B. READING PROSE SELECTION
In literal and figurative language, prose has more emotional
tone; it is less regularly patterned and its rhythm may not form a metric
regularity but it is capable of balancing its emotional tone through the
use of language that may range from a very easy unrestricted pattern to
a rigid structure and a subject matter that may be simple or complex.
Some prose forms appropriate for oral interpretation are fictions,
plays, essays, speeches, Bible stories, reports, and Radio and Television scripts. Since it
is inconvenient for the audience to listen to a very lengthy performance, the choice of
appropriate prose forms is necessary.
The short story lends itself well to oral interpretation because it is simple and condensed
and it tells life in a small compass.

MECHANICS OF INTERPRETING PROSE

A. Identify your audience and find out specific details about the occasion.
B. Select a prose that may spark the interest of the audience. A story that us not too
old nor too familiar for them but one that may also be relevant to the theme of the
occasion (if there is).
C. Watch time limit.
SOLO PERFORMANCE MODE
 Lecture recital
 Dramatic monologue
 Choreographed interpretation

 LECTURE RECITAL
Also known as a public recital or a programmed reading presentation,
it culls selections from narrative prose, poetry, and selected scenes from plays. It
may range from twenty minutes to one hour (max) recital.
CHOOSING MATERIALS FOR LECTURE RECITAL:
1. Any material for a lecture recital must have unity of source and unity of theme. A
series of poems by a single author or a series of narrative prose or selected scenes from a
play by several authors with a unifying theme, are appropriate materials form a public
recital. Selections by several author must have a unifying theme or a dominant
philosophy of life.
2. The selection must be worthy of the listener’s attention and time. The plot must be
interesting; action must be lively and quickly paces and the element of suspense must be
present. The performer should lead the listeners’ interest from an enthusiastic beginning
progressing to the climax and then moving quickly to a close.
3. The selection must combine the tragic and comic. It must move the audience both to
laughter and tears.
4. The characters must be real ones that can be identified with existing persons.
5. The selection must have a dominant character type, with focus on a main character.
6. The characters must limited, if possible to only two or three, so the performer is not
hampered by constantly changing roles.
7. The performer’s ability and personality must suit the character he is portraying in
every aspect of voice, stature and personality. For example, a skinny short man cannot
possibly impersonate a big bully with a deep bass voice in the same manner that a tall,
muscular woman with a breathy voice cannot play the central character who is sweet and
dainty with a high-pitch lovely voice.
8. The material for a public recital must fit the time prescribed.
Cutting is a technique usually done to reduce a very lengthy selection to its minimum by
eliminating unnecessary scenes and focusing only on a main plot or episode.

MECHANICS OF LECTURE RECITAL

 Give an a brief introduction by a short discussion of the
following points:
 Writer
 Characters
 Setting (optional)
 Unifying theme

Make a smooth transition from your introductory portion to the opening of the
story without informing the audience that you have ended and are about to begin the
story. NEVER say: “That ends my introduction. Now, I will begin with the story.” In the
least noticeable way, change from direct address to indirect impersonation. A pause of
slight bodily movement will prepare your listeners for the shift from introduction to the
beginning of the scene.

 Create a transition.
Transitions in the form of short narratives by the speaker are necessary to smoothen
out the breaks in continuity. Connecting the sentences or paragraphs between the
retained portions are given so that the listeners can look back and forge ahead.
 DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

A public recital for a solo performer, the monologue us an interpretative oral

performance of poetry and prose in which the interpreter plays the role of one individual
speaking to an imaginary listener, revealing in his dialogue his inmost thoughts, his very
private feelings about a subject of highest importance to him.
For example, in Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, the widower Duke,
about to take a second wife, enumerate the qualities of his first wife, in addressing an
imaginary agent.

MECHANICS OF DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

1. Understand the selected poem or prose well; identify yourself closely with the
character and put yourself completely into the role of the speaker in the selection.
2. Use your imagination and recall past experiences and observations to put life to
the character of the speaker.
For example, if the speaker in dramatic monologue is a shrew, then you must
sound exactly like a woman with a scolding, annoying and harassing voice
quality.
3. As you speak, imagine a second listener, someone you are talking to who is
represented by the answer you yourself give to an apparent question. In a speech
recital like this, the speaker in the poem or prose may be talking to himself as in
soliloquy, or to the selection.
4. The length of the performance is not to exceed an hour, preferably twenty minutes
for a series of poems, a biography or a selected scene from a one-act play, or at
most thirty minutes.
5. Choose the material carefully and if needed, cut it to a proper length, but do not
eliminate the most important parts.

 CHOREOGRAPHED INTERPRETATION
 Poetry in motion
Poetry is an expression, an act and a gesture of a meaning a feeling or
mood; so is dance. Dance is a representation of an emotion, a message or a
story. Being one in essence, one can blend into the other in expressing a subject to
great heights with grace and style.
Thus, poetry is dance and dance, poetry.
When the recital of poetry, solo or choric, is combined with rhythmic
movements of body and feet in time to music or not, the reading of poetry takes
the form of choreographed interpretation.
 In this highly expressive and artistic aural and visual presentation, the
voice remains the basic medium or expression and poetry – the only stimulus for
action. Dance is subordinated to this medium and stimulus, acting in a secondary
role. Its movements follow the voice accurately in conveying the message.
It integrates its steps in creating and projecting meaning and feelings,
coordinating with the poem’s meter and rhythm so that the audience sees poetry
and dance as one.
Performed by the reader himself or another one, dance in poetry, is not
separate from the interpretative recital. It is not an act apart from the audience to
view. It is poetry itself, expressed in synchronized motions so that dance and
poetry are skillfully combined.
 Dance Movements
The poem may be danced entirely or the reader may simply highlight
selected passages with choreographic interpretation. Lines expressing humor, joy,
disappointment, or a passage narrating an interesting scene, may be appropriately
expressed in dance.
Dance movements may be suggestive, giving a hint of imagery or mood,
never displaying nor overpowering the reader’s voice and the poem’s message.
The voice is always the controlling factor and all other subordinated to it.
Employing dance in this particular context does not mean word-for-word
translation of the poem’s lines nor does it mean dancing the poem all the way in
gay abandon no matter how strong the temptation may be.
The dancer must always remind himself of his supportive and subordinate
role. Dance is a poetic interpretation is a subtle visual stimulus expressing only
what the interpreter’s voice is saying.
Movement of the body and feet in the dance may be done in varying
degrees and forms of grace, style, sophistication, formality and informality,
avoiding the grotesque, ornate and grand forms (unless specifically called for) so
identified with a full dance number of which choreographed interpretation is not.
The dancer must always be guided by good taste and judgement in
designing and creating dance patters including the occasion, the reader and the
poem itself.
 Choreographing Poetry
Poetry lends well to a choreographed treatment. The light lyrics especially,
and some narrative poems are suited to a choreographed reading, their messages
heightened by his expressive act. Even fun verses when choreographed make
listening pleasurable.
However, some poems may not ‘dance’ well particularly those with
complex subject matter and those poems whose lines demand more aural than
visual attention.
The choice of poetry is limitless, though, and it is only restricted to the
dancer’s skill in interpreting and creating movements and the poem’s message of
the story. In choreographing a poem, action must be sincere and natural and the
body must be an expression of grace, never forced, but very relevant to the poem.
 Musical Accompaniment
 A choreographed interpretation may be danced to music or it may be a
silent dance. Either form is acceptable but the dancer must consider the poetic
meter and rhythm. If words and lines show a very strong rhythmic pattern, then
music may not be needed to provide a beat. Whichever way is used, the
interpreter must always consider the poem and his interpretative skills.
The Dancer Interpreter
A choreographed interpretation may be of solo or choric type. A solo
interpreter may read and dance at the same time or another or a group of dancers
may provide the choreography. Likewise, a speech choir may read and dance at
the same time or a solo dancer or a group of dancers may provide the
choreographic interpretation.
If the dancer is a woman and is other than the interpreter, she must follow
the mechanics of reading poetry aloud a discussed earlier. She must understand
the poem thoroughly and discuss with the reader how the latter is going to create
meanings and project the feelings in the poem.
Only when both the dancer and reader have agreed on meaning, mood and
feeling and the manner of expression can the dancer design her dance movements.
The dancer must not outshine the reader and must always keep in mind her
subordinate role. She must fade out after her role and fade in again when she is
being called out to make the audience focus on the reader.
Choreographing a poem is a skill just as simple or complex as interpreting
any selection. It is not a requirement to ‘dance’ a poem but learning how to
enhance the feeling or a mood to heighten a scene with the complement of dance
can be a very pleasurable and fulfilling activity for speech student.

ACTIVITY
Attached is the piece Tarantella by Hillaire Belloc. Have a video of yourself while
reciting the poem. Your emotions, enunciation, your movements, and facial expression
will be graded.
You will be graded based on the following criteria:
Criteria Description
The speaker uses language and tone that are appropriate to the nature and context of the
Adherence to Task task.
Objectives (20%) The presentation successfully meets the expected outcomes.
Vocal Variety and The speaker appropriately shifts in pitch, tone, volume, and intonation, which
Emotion (20%) effectively add more meaning to the presentation; and effectively applies proper
emotion.
The presenter stays focused and is not easily rattled or distracted.
Presentation Decorum The presenter is obviously well-prepared and confident, and every movement is precise
(20%) and purposive.
The speaker enunciates and pronounces words well, which commands great attention
Enunciation (30%) from the audience.
There is sophistication and crispness in the use of language.
Nonverbal The presenter always uses proper gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions that are
Communication (10% consistent with the content of the presentation.

Tarantella
by Hilaire Belloc
(1929)

Do you remember an Inn,

Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
And the tedding and the
spreading
Of the straw for a bedding,
And the fleas that tease in the
High Pyrenees,
And the wine that tasted of
tar?
And the cheers and the jeers
of the young muleteers
(Under the vine of the dark
verandah)?
Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda,
Do you remember an Inn?
And the cheers and the jeers
of the young muleteeers
Who hadn't got a penny,
And who weren't paying any,
And the hammer at the doors
and the Din?
And the Hip! Hop! Hap!
Of the clap
Of the hands to the twirl and
the swirl
Of the girl gone chancing,
Glancing,
Dancing,
Backing and advancing,
Snapping of a clapper to the
spin
Out and in --
And the Ting, Tong, Tang, of
the Guitar.
Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
Never more;
Miranda,
Never more.
Only the high peaks hoar:
And Aragon a torrent at the
door.
No sound
In the walls of the Halls
where falls
The tread
Of the feet of the dead to the
ground
No sound:
But the boom
Of the far Waterfall like
Doom.
II. ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE MODE
1. choric interpretation;
2. reader’s theatre;
3. chamber theatre
1. THE SPEECH CHOIR
A. Nature and Background of Verse Speaking Groups
Variously called choral reading, verse speaking groups, choric interpretation, speech
choir, and vocal orchestration, it is an ensemble reading technique where a group of well-
rehearsed readers in coordinated voices and related interpretation recite as one.
In the interpretation of the prose or poem the group has chosen, the readers think and feel
in unison, completely in agreement as to meaning, mood and rhythm, progressing from the
opening passages then moving to a climax one.
Each voice contributes to the totality of the unified effect and while their voices may
differ in quality and pitch, they are one in saying the sounds, in feeling the rhythm or words and
phrases, and in expressing the mod and meaning of the selection.
The historical roots of speech choir may be traced to the famous Greek chorus so
noticeably present in classical dramas such as Euripides’ Medea and in contemporary ones like
T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral where they sing and speak for entertainment purposes. To
this day, choral speech interpretations have been presented as a form of dramatic entertainment.
A very good and well-presented ensemble interpretation is the product of careful
preparation that involves the interplay of the following factors:
1. the selection chosen
2. the skills and artistic judgment of the director
3. voice divisions and combinations; choir arrangements;
4. practice and performance strategy; and
5. the setting.

B. The Choir Director

Also called as the conductor, the choir director acts as the coordinator in the same way
an orchestra conductor and a play director works.
Qualities of choir director:
1. Effective reader
2. Has sensitive awareness to the meaning and mood of the selection
3. Knows the appropriate varieties of voices, qualities, tone, color, melody and rhythm, and
tastes and preferences or the audience
4. A good motivator of the group
5. Knows how to create a performance that has unity, coherence, emphasis, humor, contrast,
and good taste

Classes of Voice Divisions

 To start classifying the group readers’ voices, let all the readers as a whole, speak in
unison. Observe the differences in voice quality, pitch, intensity and also the distribution of tone
and volume. You will note tat the male voices are lower, heavier, or darker; while female voices
are lighter.
Next, divide the group into dark and light voices. Listen to each voice and analyze them
according to pitch, quality, and range. Note that there will low voices (dark), high voices (light)
and medium ones.
Make further divisions in various combinations – soprano (highest female voice); alto
(lowest female voice); tenor (highest male voice) and bass (lowest male voice).
Types of choric arrangements
1. Reading in Unison. The total effect achieved by group recital is that of several voices
sounding like one instrument , each voice blending with one another in synchronized fashion so that no
voice gets out of rhythm nor drowns the other.

To achieve this unified effect, all readers think, feel, and act as one, expressing the same
emotions as interpreted, pausing in the same places in the same length of time. In coordinated
precision, they identify the highest point in the selection and, with voices in unison, help produce
that feeling and mood.
2. Solo and Chorus. In this choral arrangement, the soloist reads aloud several lines
followed immediately by a refrain which is recited by the chorus.
The choral passage must integrate with the solo passage, the soloist and the chorus
mentally following each lone of the selection during the alternating parts.
While the solo reader expresses his passages, the chorus silently follows the flow of
thought, paying attention to the continuity of the passages, never wandering, so that as long as
the solo reader reads his line, the chorus begins from the solo passage that precede it.
In effect, both the solo reader and chorus coordinate and integrate their rhythm, tempo,
and mood, thus acting as one. Ballads are very appropriate to this kind of arrangements.
3. Responsive reading. When the faithful in church answer the priest in the unison, responsive
reading is performed. This choric arrangement, also called antiphonal reading, is group reading in
unison in answer to an invocation recited by a priest or any solo reader.
It is a choral arrangement where lines are recited alternately by a solo or a chorus, or by the choirs
as in religious ceremonies. Ritualistic verses like prayers, the litanies, the Beatitudes, selected psalms,
passages from patriotic pledges, and oaths of office are suited to this kind of arrangements.
Practice and Performance Strategy
1. Select the material/selection
2. Read the selection (as a group) and analyze its meaning, mood, and purpose
3. Rehearse: practice proper and accurate pronunciation
4. Decide on where to put pausing and emphasis, what variety of voice quality, rate and intensity
will match the mood and theme of the selection
5. Identify which passages will require light and dark voices, which will be read by male and
female, and which will be recited in solo or chorus
6. Decide on voice division and the choral grouping arrangement
2. READER’S THEATRE
Concept of Reader’s Theatre
 It is also known as concert reading, interpreter’s theatre, and staged reading. On this ensemble
mode, the presence or absence of a narrator establishes the “locus” of the story.
Locus – relationship between reader and the poem, and between reader and audience.
Reader’s theatre, then, sets up its scene outfront and offstage, within the range of the audience,
not onstage with the readers. The focus of the audience’s attention is not in the visual form of the reader
but on the auditory images that they hear and then see as the interpreter reads his lines; thus, the audience
see the characters in their minds as the character the reader is speaking.
The theatre of the mind
Readers Theatre appeals more to the ear than to the eye, the auditory senses responding more (as
opposed to a full-staged drama which appeals to both ears and eyes).
In the performance, the reader tries not to look like the character he is interpreting; instead, he
feels and projects the thoughts, mood, and feelings of the character he is speaking. This is the major
responsibility of the oral interpreter.
He embodies the character not only through the passages he is speaking but also through his
voice and body.
He speaks with appropriate voice quality, varying pitch levels and degrees of loudness and
softness, adjusting his rate of speaking as he performs.
He also uses pauses, clear and accurate pronunciation and enunciations, appropriate body
movements, so the audience will create the scene and action in their minds.
This is the reason Readers Theatre is also called “the theatre of the mind.” (Coger and
White,1973).
During the performance, the imagination of the readers and audience is closely interlocked,
actively engaged in the giving and receiving of ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
On one hand, the readers internalize the characters and then visualize the action in out front
scene, creating a visual focus offstage within the reach and range of the audience; on the other hand, the
audience responds by receiving and reacting to auditory stimuli provided by the readers so that there is
strong imaginative participation by both audience and reader in visualizing and experiencing the story of
drama.
The readers speak to the audience and to themselves, providing for the most part auditory stimuli.
Visual stimuli, of provided, are rather symbolic than realistic, functioning only to enhance and to
complement but never to compete with what is being said and heard.
Therefore, in Readers Theatre, the audience must be ready and willing to give both their mental
and emotional attention to the story, to think and feel the characters, to identify themselves with them,
and to be most sensitive to all kinds of stimuli presented by the readers, so that as listeners, they can
establish a very close and personal relationship with the readers and characters of the story.
The imagination of the audience may be set off by a number of stimuli. For the most part this is
provided by the lines and passages spoken by the reader, accompanied by his voice quality, pitch levels,
degree of intensity, rate of speaking, pauses, clear and accurate pronunciation and enunciation.
Throughout the performance, the audience’s imagery will be enriched by other stimuli: the
readers, eye contact, scenes, entrances and exits, books, and some theatrical effect.

Mechanics of Readers Theatre

I. CHOICE OF READERS
A single reader may assume dual characters as long as he is able and he will not confuse the
audience.
II. VISUAL FOCUS FOR OFFSTAGE EFFECTS
Establishing an offstage effect may be done by readers in several ways. They may sit beside each other on
the platform and talk out to the audience sharing something imaginary that both ‘see’ out there. They may
also speak to each other even while they look at the audience most of the time.
The reader may also look freely at the character he is speaking to, but looks way at the audience when he
is speaking to still another character. The choice of technique is flexible and the readers are free to select
which one suits the scene in progress.
If the readers are few, they may look at each other every now and then so that the conversation will seem
natural, but when many readers are lined up on the platform such that one reader has to bend forward or
search down the line to look at the character he is speaking to, then both readers may look at the audience,
spot something imaginary that both see, and then begin speaking to each other.
III. SCENES
Very often, the story performed suggests to emphasized something to be seen but is not heard, that is, the
reader’s lines do not clearly tell what happens. In this connection, Readers Theatre is required to put that
scene on stage in the form of a very quick and brief moment of characters onstage and offstage. This
scene must only complement, enhance or heighten what is being heard at that precise moment.
IV. INGRESS AND EGRESS
Movements in Readers Theatre onstage and offstage are rather suggestive. For example, if the readers
are seated on revolving chairs, they make a half-turn to enter or leave the platform; likewise, if a character
has to fade out of the scene but has to remain facing the audience, he may close his book or lower his eyes
to make his character disappear.
V. BOOKS-IN-HAND
Readers in this ensemble mode use books or scripts but these are part of the performance itself. A
book must not be held simply as a prop or a gimmick with blank spaces, it must not also be seen as a
crutch that the reader depends on when he forgets a line or a passage.
VI. THEATRICAL EFFECTS
Restraint, simplicity and prudence mark the use of theatrical effects in Readers Theatre. At the
outset, it has been discussed that these would be used only to enhance what is being heard. Besides, an
overwhelming use of theatrical sets is identified with a fully-staged drama of which Readers Theatre is
not.
Books must be handled with ease and with spontaneous action so that they may also serve as a
stimulus as suggested by the interpreter’s line. The book may be used as a gun, a knife, or even a small
dog as the interpretation of the story or drama unfolds and progresses.
Makeup, costumes, lights, music, scenery and props compose other aspects of theatrical
techniques. Makeup may be used only to make it easier for the audience to identify the character
speaking; as with the use of scenes, it must not distract and overshadow the auditory stimuli. Readers may
use uniform costumes to contribute to the total effect of the performance.
Uniform costumes also allow the single reader to assume several roles or characters simply with
the addition of a hat, an apron, a cape or a crown to emphasize a shift in character of role.
The platform must always be lighted; spot, area or color lights may be used to heighten the mood in an
accompanying passage so that the creation of the scene in the minds of the audience is facilitated.
The same is true with the musical effects. Since there is very little visual stimuli, a musical
accompaniment in the background appropriate for the mood and feeling projected may be used. Again,
music must not overshadow the lines spoken.
Use of scenery must also be minimal. For example, of the scene is in the king’s palace, an
elaborate chair at the center of the platform with a wooden crown on the ceiling can suggest a throne
room.
Stage may consist of several elevated platforms, chairs, stools, boxes, or even ladders for readers
to sit on, including lecterns and tables for placings scripts. The director is free to add more equipment as
long as it will help the audience in visualizing the scene. The set must be pared down to the basic. It must
be suggestive and must be properly managed.

3. CHAMBER THEATRE
Characteristics of Chamber Theatre
A method of interpreting narrative fiction for group interpretations is Chamber Theatre. It is an
auditory and visual strategy that dramatizes the point of view in a short story or a novel.
In using prose fiction as its main text, Chamber Theatre keeps the original narrative, including the
narrator, who plays his usual role or observing events, reporting actions, describing, explaining, and
analyzing as if to silent listener, and USES THE PAST TENSE which is characteristic of the literary
genre.
Since nothing is changed in the text, the indirect discourse predominantly present in prose fiction
is spoken aloud as if it were direct discourse. The narrative parts retained, the narrator moves freely
between the audience and the scenes as he says the indirect statements in conversation with the audience
and locates his scenes onstage with the other actors (as opposed to Readers Theatre which locates most of
its scenes offstage).
The dramatic action then, consists of the narration and the dialogues very smoothly intertwined
together with the visual stimuli which are presented as part of the performance. These are the stage sets
similar to those of Readers Theatre – a stool, chair, table, elevated steps, costumes, makeup, lighting,
music, and scenery.
As in the Readers Theatre, these visual stimuli are for the most part suggestive and symbolic use
only to enhance or heighten a spoke n line or a series of passages, and presented in a very restrained
manner.
Actors, Dialogue, Eye Movements

Each character in the selection is performed by a separate actor with minimal but
different stage sets and theatrical effects is as not for Chamber Theatre to appear like a fully-
staged play.
The dialogues of the performers are for the most part composed of narration (indirect
discourse) spoken aloud as direct statements in varying movements on stage. When the
interpreter speaks the narrator’s role and says the indirect discourse as direct statements, he looks
at the audience as if conversing to them, but when he shifts to a character to a scene he looks
freely at the character he is speaking to.
In the smooth shift if roles or character, so do the plot, action and climax flow, each
flowing into one another in continuous sequence, letting the audience respond mentally,
emotionally and psychologically, making this player – audience relationship alive, dramatic and
immediate.
In this smooth shift of roles or character, the players interact with the audience as they
say the indirect statements. As the performance progresses, so do the plot, action and climax
follow, each flowing into one another in continuous sequence, letting the audience respond
mentally, emotionally and psychologically, making this player – audience relationship alive,
dramatic and immediate.
THE NARRATOR: Point of View
Chamber Theater’s most outstanding quality is the very significant role it assigns to the narrator.
Through him, the point of view is maintained and controlled as he variously shifts from third person
narrator to a first person character in a scene.
 The narrator’s point of view provides the physical and psychological situation and the degree of
involvement the narrator assumes controls and guides the listeners’ responses as they follow the action
through their thoughts, feelings, and expectations.

The narrator’s involvement consists of his roles as an objective reporter-observer and a

character in a scene. He speaks in a third person, reporting to the audience his commentaries and
observations, then shifts into a character in a scene and speaks in the first person.
This the narrator does so often in the play with utmost skill and ease assisted by his voice
quality, rate of speech, voice intensity, pitch levels, including pauses and clear and accurate pronunciation
and enunciation. His body movements ably assist him in projecting to the audience the shift in roles or
character.

Thus, the narrator is the controlling force the performance, maintaining the point of view
in the story skillfully and easily as he fades in and out of the scene, leaving his role as narrator,
slipping into a character in the scene and then fades out again to become the narrator.
This facility to involve himself in varying degrees of emotional and psychological
experiences requires skill and care because the narrator has to maintain the person and the point
of view together with the action. Doing this helps the audience respond in the same manner,
emotionally and psychologically, as the auditory and visual stimuli play into their senses.
THEATRICAL EFFECTS
Visual stimuli in the form of theatrical effects are used in Chamber Theatre – costumes,
makeup, scenery, and stage sets. Lighting must be used in varying degrees of spot or are focus.
The use of music and scenery is the same as in Readers Theatre, the presence of which serves
only to suggest what is being heard, and to heighten the emotional and psychological response of
the audience.
Scenery must not overshadow the total effect of the ensemble performance and must not
compete with the player’s presence and action, else it might appear as a fully-staged drama.
Visual stimuli in the form of theatrical effects are used in Chamber Theatre – costumes,
makeup, scenery, and stage sets. Lighting must be used in varying degrees of spot or are focus.
The use of music and scenery is the same as in Readers Theatre, the presence of which serves
only to suggest what is being heard, and to heighten the emotional and psychological response of
the audience.
Scenery must not overshadow the total effect of the ensemble performance and must not
compete with the player’s presence and action, else it might appear as a fully-staged drama.

SCRIPTS-IN-HAND
Holding a book will depend on the script and the action the players would wish to
project. The general practice is for Chamber Theatre players not to carry books specially if the
characters are in a scene because with books in their hands, they would seem to be rehearsing.
The narrator particularly must know his lines be heart for he would not sound nor look
convincing when he carries a book or script as he tells the story as a first person narrator.

However, if the narrator is not a character in a scene but an objective observer speaking
in a third person, he may hold the book as if reporting to the audience.
Again, if the narrator constantly fades in and out of his role as narrator and as a character
in a scene, the absence of the book will make his dialogue convincing and spontaneous,
unhampered, and unrestrained.
TIME LIMIT
One and a half time at the most with intermission is suggested.