PRE-PRODUCTION: Reading a play for the first time

[SMrose]

After 25 + years, I have learned to turn off some of the stage manager in me and treat a first read through of a play I'll be working on as an "overall, mostly, what is the playwright saying?" read.  Keeping note paper and pencils away from reach is also what I do to keep from going into SM mode.  After the first read---it's all business.  I do like to read the play before the first read thru with actors and that's mostly because I'm often invovled in auditions.  It's easier to confir with the director if I am familiar with the characters/play.
I also read plays that the theatres/univeristy I work with may want to consider as part of their season.  Those reads are 1/2 pleasure and 1/2 "is this really do-able at this place?"
What a great topic!

[loebtmc]

I started out reading plays as a kid - they came to life as I read them. I still do a partial breakdown as I read now, when a play is really really good I can still get lost in it the first time out. But I have always been taught to read it several times before first rehearsal, so I sometimes do my read-for-pleasure after finishing the the page-by-page work.