Readers Theatre

Want drama to play a “role” in your curriculum without needing a stage, costumes, props or significant rehearsal time for memorization?  Readers Theatre is the perfect solution for you!  Readers Theater presents literature as a script to be read in a dynamic, dramatic style that can be performed for others or used simply to expose your students to classic stories in a fun and engaging manner.  Perfect for any age group from young beginning readers to senior citizens, readers theatre encourages vocabulary development, teaches speaking and listening skills, improves reading fluency and expression, builds self-esteem, develops teamwork and social connections and stimulates creativity.

Pioneer Drama Service is pleased to offer 14 texts in this category.
All Year Long!
Funny readers theatre for life’s special times
Here is a reader’s theatre compilation of contemporary, humorous plays that deal with the problems of middle-schoolers.   More...

Christmas On Stage
An anthology of royalty-free Christmas plays for all ages
This book will make Christmas more meaningful — and fun!  — for performer and audience alike with this diverse collection of 27 Christmas plays and readings suitable for classroom or youth presentations.  More...
Classic Readers Theatre for Young Adults
Students will gain familiarity with unforgettable works of literature while improving their vocal and presentation skills.   More...
Don Quijote in America
Plays in English and Spanish, Grades 1-6
Tested in both inner-city and suburban schools, these plays dramatically improve both reading and speaking skills.  More...
From Atalanta to Zeus
Greek mythology traditionally conveys a blend of excitement, intrigue, scandal and fun.   More...
From the Page to the Stage
The educator's complete guide to readers theatre
This easy-to-use resource provides teachers with nuts-and-bolts guidelines for integrating readers theatre into upper elementary and middle school classrooms.  More...
How and Why Stories for Readers Theatre
With appropriate vocabulary and sentence structure for young readers, these 40 short scripts are a delightfully entertaining addition to any elementary classroom.  More...
Introduction to Readers Theatre
A guide to classroom performance
Readers Theatre is engaged in a pursuit of a more contemporary self-definition, and some of the more theatrical trends of classroom performance are reflected in this book of practices and principles.   More...
Just Deal With It! 
Funny readers theatre for life's not-so-funny moments
This collection of humorous skits takes real-life settings and characters and pokes gentle fun at those annoying, irritating, embarrassing moments that are part of growing up.   More...
Mother Goose Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers
For children reading at first and second grade levels
Written for children reading at first and second grade levels, this readers theatre book uses the endearing Mother Goose rhymes as its basis, making it especially valuable to teachers and librarians.  More...
Multicultural Folktales
Readers theatre for elementary students
Introduce your students to other countries and cultures through the traditional folk and fairy tales in these engaging readers theatre scripts.  More...
Readers Theatre Anthology
A Collection of 28 Readings
This collection of scripts by a nationally known authority on the subject will add a new theatrical look to your drama program.  Their ease of performance makes these scripts ideal for classroom use.   More...
Readers Theatre for Young Adults
Scripts and Script Development
This book has two major purposes:  to help secondary students enjoy the experience of doing readers theatre and to help students experiment with writing their own readers theatre script.   More...
Simply Shakespeare
While preserving the flavor of Shakespeare's writing, the language has been modernized so that young readers can easily understand and appreciate the plot and characters.   More...