16-448: Letters Live is a staged reading show of literary correspondence . It was created and developed in 2013 by independent publishing house Canongate Books in partnership with production company SunnyMarch . During the shows, actors read interesting, funny, or dramatic letters to the audience. Letters Live events have taken place in a wide range of venues and locations since its inception. While these events have primarily taken place in
32-502: A lectern , and are usually not known to the audience in advance. The letters read during events are selected from those catalogued in Usher's book and blog, and have included correspondences including Virginia Woolf 's suicide note and a letter sent by Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler in 1939. The first event, in 2013, included performers Benedict Cumberbatch , Gillian Anderson , and Neil Gaiman . The event, in addition to promoting
48-663: A 2019 event at the Royal Albert Hall , Rory Stewart read a critical letter by Boris Johnson 's former Eton housemaster to announce his resignation from the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom . A U.S. version of Letters Live debuted in 2015 in Los Angeles. Performers included Julia Louis-Dreyfus and J. J. Abrams , and the event was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel . Another Los Angeles show
64-404: A stage reading, as a way to attract potential investors or to rehearse. As a form of public performance, the stage reading of a film script is like performing a radio play before a live audience, with emphasis on the use of imagination and on voice acting, which might require theatre actors and voice-over artists . Reader's theatre is the stage reading of a fully developed or classic play, when
80-407: Is a form of theatre without sets or full costumes . The actors, who read from scripts, may be seated, stand in fixed positions, or incorporate minimal stage movement . There is an overlap with the term play reading , One US source says that play reading incorporates little or no movement, while the latter is performed, with actions, on a stage. A stage reading of a new play in development
96-416: Is an intermediate phase between a cold reading, with the cast usually sitting around a table, and a full production. A narrator may read stage directions aloud. The purpose is to gauge the effectiveness of the dialogue, pacing and flow, and other dramatic elements that the playwright or director may wish to adjust. Audience feedback contributes to the process. In play-development workshopping, the stage reading
112-403: Is combined with a certain vision. The character that the costumer is dressing is also an important aspect, and a lot of the time the attitudes of the character is not exactly in line with the time period. For example, they may be more bright and colorful, or they may be more dull. A movie or stage production which emphasize the use of correct clothes and settings for a specific time period is called
128-449: Is one of the forms of workshop, along with the rehearsed reading, the exploratory workshop, and the full workshop production. It is an inexpensive way to get a new play in front of an audience. Stage readings that include members of Actors' Equity (U.S.) in the cast are governed by that union's Stage Reading Guidelines. A screenplay in development that relies to a significant degree on dialogue rather than action may sometimes be given
144-704: The United Kingdom, it has also been performed in other countries, including the United States. Letters Live initially started as a one-off literacy charity event to promote Canongate Books epistolary texts Letters of Note by Shaun Usher and To the Letter by Simon Garfield in December 2013. Usher had been compiling letters in an online blog, searching for interesting, funny, or dramatic letters in libraries, museums, and archives. Jamie Byng of Canongate Books contacted celebrities he knew to get them involved in
160-403: The event. Initially intended to be a one-off, the event received very positive feedback from attendees, and Byng decided to host more. Letters Live takes the format of a series of readings of letters , typically performed by famous actors. Some actors have a preference for letters they would like to read. The letters are sometimes accompanied by music. Performers are generally onstage alone, at
176-449: The historical period/era, geographic location, time of day, as well as the season or weather of the theatrical performance. Stage clothes may be used to portray a historical look or they can be used to exaggerate some aspect of a character. Any clothing used by performers (singers, actors, or dancers) on stage may be referred to as stage clothes. More specifically, the term is sometimes used only for those clothes which are specially made for
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#1732786814021192-442: The reading is itself the performance. Stage clothes Stage clothes is a term for any clothes used by performers on stage. The term is sometimes used only for those clothes which are specially made for the stage performance by a costume designer or picked out by a costume coordinator . Theatrical costumes can help actors portray characters' age, gender role, profession, social class, personality, and even information about
208-406: The season or weather of the theatrical performance. Often, stylized theatrical costumes can exaggerate some aspect of a character; for example Harlequin and Pantaloon in the traditional commedia dell'arte . In certain cases, duplicates of the same stage clothes are prepared for a production, such as when performing in stunts involving bullet hit squibs . Usually, in costume, historical accuracy
224-442: The stage performance by a costume designer or picked out by a costume coordinator . However, many performers also pick up regular clothes and make them their " trademark look " on stage. In combination with other aspects, theatrical costumes can help actors portray characters' age, gender role, profession, social class, personality, and even information about the historical period/era, geographic location and time of day, as well as
240-849: The two Canongate Books publications, raised money for UK charity The Reading Agency . Letters Live has also been hosted at the Hay Festival . In 2016, a Letters Live event took place in the Calais Jungle , where actors including Jude Law and Matt Berry read letters written by refugees . During the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom , a digital event was broadcast from the Roundhouse theatre . Other performers have included Oscar Isaac , Russell Brand , Ian McKellen , Caitlin Moran , Tom Hiddleston , and Carey Mulligan . At
256-412: Was performed in 2018. In reviews published in 2016, both The Daily Telegraph and The Independent gave Letters Live 4/5 stars. In The Independent 's review, they described the show as "carefully constructed", with the right mix of different kinds of letters being read. The Daily Telegraph gave a 2022 show 3/5 stars. Staged reading A stage reading , also known as a staged reading ,
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