Readings Aren’t the Goal. Production Is.

Why so many playwrights get stuck in the development loop—and how to avoid it.

By Cate Cammarata

If you’re writing a new play or musical, at some point you’re going to need to put it in front of an audience.

There is simply no substitute for hearing actors speak your words out loud, seeing where an audience leans in, where they laugh, where they become restless, and where they become emotionally invested.

We need to bring an audience in to learn how the work is landing. That’s why we do readings.

Theaters and producers also need to hear information a script before they invest all the time, money, and resources required to move the script to a full production.

Readings are one of the most useful, economical and practical tools we have in the development process.

I am very much for readings.

But I think our industry has developed a problem.

Too many writers have grown to believe that development itself is the destination.

But it’s not.

Too many projects spend years moving from reading to reading, workshop to workshop, feedback session to feedback session—without ever reaching a production.

And that was never the purpose.

 

A Reading Is a Diagnostic Tool

Think of a reading the way a doctor thinks about an X-ray.

The X-ray isn’t the treatment.

It’s information.

The reading is not the final product.

It’s a way to discover:

• What is working

• What is confusing

• What is emotionally landing

• Where the pace drags.

• What questions the audience is left asking it’s done.

The goal is not to accumulate readings.

The goal is to gather information on what should be addressed and revised in order to move the piece forward.

But if a project has had five readings and nothing significant is being changed – the work needs to find a way to a full production.

So then, is the work ready? It depends. What does the feedback actually say?

 

Not All Feedback Is Equal

One of the most important lessons I teach playwrights and musical theatre writers is this:

Always pay attention to who is giving the feedback.

Many writers collect comments from everyone in the room and treat every opinion as equally valuable.

Watch out; that could be dangerous.

Consider:

• Is the feedback coming from a producer?

• A literary manager?

• A dramaturg?

• A director?

• An actor?

• A regular audience member?

Each person is experiencing the work through a different lens:

• A literary manager may identify issues that affect programming decisions.

• A ldirector may focus on theatrical execution.

• An actor may notice problems with character motivation.

An audience member may only know that something “felt off.”

All of those perspectives have value.

But they do not necessarily carry equal weight depending on your goals.

The key is to understand the source before deciding what to do with the information.

 

Listen for Patterns

One isolated comment is just one person’s opinion.

Ten versions of the same comment are data.

One person might say:

“Act Two felt slow.”

Another would admit:

“I lost focus after intermission.”

Someone trying to be helpful would share:

“I wasn’t sure what the protagonist wanted anymore.”

Or add:

“The ending felt farther away than I expected.”

Different words – but the same underlying issue.

When multiple people are pointing toward the same problem—even if they’re describing it differently—the audience is intuiting something important.

That doesn’t automatically mean they know how to fix it (although they may try to rewrite your play on the spot to “help”).

But it usually means they’re correctly identifying a symptom.

Your job is to investigate the cause.

 

The Audience Is Usually Right About Problems

And usually wrong about solutions.

Remember that.

An audience member may accurately identify confusion around a character’s motivation – and then they may propose a scene, a speech, or an entirely new subplot to fix it.

Now, the confusion is valuable information.

Their proposed solution? Not so much.

As the writer, your responsibility is to diagnose the underlying issue and solve it in a way that serves the piece.

 

Trust Your Instincts

No matter how experienced the person giving notes may be, never make a change simply because someone told you to. No matter how famous.

Every revision should pass through your own artistic judgment.

Ask yourself:

• Does this note resonate to me?

• Does it reveal a real problem?

• Does it align with my vision for the piece?

• Will it make the play stronger?

If the answer is no, don’t make the change.

The work belongs to you. The final decisions belong to you.

A professional writer learns how to listen productively without becoming obsessed by other people’s opinions.

Process every comment through your own filter: your own gut reaction to it.

 

Remember: It’s Your Intellectual Property

This is especially important when production opportunities enter the picture.

Sometimes a theatre, director, producer, or literary manager may request changes before agreeing to produce a script.

Those requests may be reasonable.

They may even lead to improvements.

Or – they may not.

Writers often feel trapped in these situations because production opportunities can be difficult to secure.

Unfortunatlely, I’ve seen it happen too many times.

Here’s what I remind my clients:

The work is your intellectual property.

If you choose to make adjustments to facilitate a production, that is your decision.

But the script remains yours.

You are not permanently surrendering authorship.

After the production ends, you are free to decide which – if any – of those changes belong in future drafts.

The work is yours..

The key is making intentional choices for now instead of feeling pressured into introducing permanent changes into your script. 

 

We Need Better Development Models

The larger issue is that our field often relies too heavily on readings as the primary development mechanism.

Readings are valuable.

They’re essential.

But they’re not enough.

Theatre is a production-based art form.

Certain discoveries only emerge when a piece is staged, designed, rehearsed, and performed in front of a paying audience over time.

The challenge, of course, is cost.

Productions require resources.

Readings are comparatively inexpensive, which is why many promising projects remain trapped in “developmental hell.”

As an industry, we need more innovative, practical, and sustainable ways to move readings into productions.

We need models that allow artists to test work in front of audiences in spaces that don’t require enormous budgets.

We need pathways that help writers move beyond endless feedback cycles and toward actual production experiences.

Those questions—and the future of developing theatre—are topics I explore regularly in my Creative Producer emails each Friday.

Because the goal isn’t another reading.

The goal is helping great plays and musicals find their way to the stage.

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About CreateTheater

At CreateTheater, we help playwrights and musical theatre writers develop producible work—not just polished scripts. Through dramaturgy, development labs, strategic feedback, and production-focused guidance, we help writers move from draft to audience to production with intention.

Development is a step. Production is the destination.