Many people assume that when children perform Reader’s Theater, they should all be lined up together in a row on center stage.
While you can use that arrangement, there are also many other possibilities available to you. Since you have an entire stage to work with, you may as well have a little fun and set up your actors so that their positions enhance the performance.
Below you will find some diagrams of possible arrangements you can use for setting up your performers.
If you have the Reader’s Theater: Classic Poetry and Reader’s Theater: Christian Poetry books, these layouts will work well for certain scripts. For your convenience, I have indicated which pieces specifically fit a particular setup. If you don’t have these books, I have information at the end of this post on how to get them.
When using these arrangements, keep in mind that the performers don’t have to stay in one position for an entire performance. It is possible for one or more of them to move to other positions.
By the way, these setups can be used for choral readings or group recitations as well.
Arrangements of Reader’s Theater Actors
For 2 Performers
If you have a main character (C) and a narrator (N) like you do in the “Picture-Book Giant” and “Our Tree Toad” from Classic Poetry, you may want to have the character be center stage while the narrator is off to the side.
If you just have two readers, you may want to have them spread apart and angled in slightly. This arrangement could work well for pieces like “Easter Day” and “A Little Carol” from Christian Poetry.
For 3 Performers
When you have two narrators (N) and a character (C) as in the piece, “Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me” in Christian Poetry, you probably want to have the character center stage and the narrators on either side towards the back.
On the other hand, when you have one narrator and two characters as you do in “What Christ Said” or “Learned Fred” from Christian Poetry, you probably want this arrangement.
You could use the arrangements above for three readers as well (no characters or narrators). For a work like “The City Mouse and the Garden Mouse” from Classic Poetry, you simply put Reader 1 on the left, 2 in the middle, and 3 on the right.
For 4 Performers
When you have a piece with two narrators and two characters such as “How the Little Kite Learned to Fly” from Classic Poetry, you can use an arrangement like this.
If you simply have four readers as you do for “The Tiger” and “The Lamb” in Christian Poetry, you could have them stand in a row or in the arrangement below. (rhyme intended) You may or may not want to angle in the performers.
For 5 Performers
When you have a piece with four narrators (N) and a character (C) as in “Going Downhill on a Bicycle” in Classic Poetry, you may want to use this layout.
If you have three narrators (N) and two characters (C) like “The Table and the Chair” does from Christian Poetry, you can have the narrators in the back and the characters in the front as shown here.
For scripts with just five readers and no characters such as “Try Again” and “Twenty Froggies” from Classic Poetry, you can use one of the setups above or try this one. Readers may be angled in if desired.
For 6 Performers
With scripts that have three narrators (N) and three characters (C) like “The Jovial Welshman” in Classic Poetry, you might try this layout.
For pieces with six readers like “God is Good” in Christian Poetry, you can use the arrangement above or this one.
For 7 Performers
For scripts with seven readers including “Will God” and “It Was My Heavenly Father’s Love” from Christian Poetry, you might try either this layout
For 8 Performers
When you have eight readers, you could try an arrangement like this one.
For pieces that have partner readers like “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Classic Poetry, you might try this setup, although you may want to angle in the readers slightly.
Don’t be afraid to tweak any of these arrangements a bit. They are just guidelines to help you set up your performers.
Also, I haven’t named all of the titles from the Reader’s Theater: Classic Poetry and Reader’s Theater: Christian Poetry books in this post because some can fit almost any arrangement.
If you’re interested in learning more about my Reader’s Theater books, check out the links below.
Reader’s Theater: Classic Poetry, 2nd Edition
Reader’s Theater: Christian Poetry