"The play's the thing" -Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Play reading groups have a long tradition.

In Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway," the character Peter Walsh describes reading Shakespeare out loud with some companions.

In E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View," the character of Mr. Beebe remarks on the pleasure of reading plays out loud.

And in his book, "Caravans," James A. Michener talks about how—in the mid-1940s—foreign embassy personnel in Kabul, Afghanistan gathered in the evenings and read plays out loud as a form of entertainment.

More recently, during the COVID lock downs, online play reading group activity soared. Here at WICE we thought this would be a very nice addition to our Literature program, and a recent survey of WICE members indicated that there's a real interest in it.


WICE's "From Page to Stage" group currently meets on the 1st Friday of the month is a willing member's apartment, where members read a play out loud and discuss it afterwards. The group looks for plays to read with the following qualities:

  • Available in English
  • Award-winning
  • 7 - 10 characters
  • 1 - 2 acts
  • Able to be read out loud in under 90 minutes

Furthermore, the group strives to have a balance in gender among the authors, and a mix of nationalities.

To date, the group has read the following plays:

  • The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde
  • The Autumn Garden, by Lilian Hellman
  • Great Catherine, by George Bernard Show

Participation in this group is free for WICE Members, although registration is required. Note: There are two reserved spots for new WICE members in each play reading.

If you would like more information or if you have questions, please email:

literature@wice-paris.org

Return to Literature

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