The Skit Read-Through

The skit is written for our upcoming women’s retreat. This weekend we met for our skit read-through. This is a valuable process, which takes you from “draft” to “final” format.  The earlier you can cast your skit and get everyone together for the first read-through, the better.  Everyone was given the skit draft to read ahead of time.

Who was invited:

• All ladies who had agreed to be a character in the skit
• A friend I know to be gifted in visualizing a set and coming up with props
• The “director” (that was me!)
• Any understudy for leading parts (we don’t have any this time)

What we did:

• We prayed – for ourselves, for the skit, for creativity in planning and revision, and for the retreat itself
• We read through the skit, with everyone in character.  Everyone was free to give input at this point on their character and dialogue.  We especially pay attention to any inconsistencies or unrealistic dialogue and make corrections.
• We keep careful track of any changes, of props that are needed, etc.
• After reading through it, we discuss options for props and settings.  Since we have no budget for our skits, we have to keep costumes, sets and props simple and inexpensive; often one of us has something at home that will work.

Finally, I made changes in the draft, marked it as “final” and sent it to everyone.

I will be talking more about how we make this work in later blogs as we get closer to the retreat!