• ISBN13: 9781032470825
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: Music, Theatre & Films
• Publisher: T&F
• Publisher Imprint: Routledge
• Publication Date: November 12, 2025
• Pages: 194
• Original Price: 31.99 GBP
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 240 grams

Now in a fully updated second edition, How to Read a Play offers methods for analyzing play scripts from a diverse range of perspectives, giving directors practical tools as they prepare for production.

Based on interviews with award winning directors, university professors, and experimental theatre companies, How to Read a Play provides practical advice on how to first approach a script, prepare for design meetings, get ready for casting sessions, and lay the groundwork for rehearsals with actors. The book starts with a brief historical overview of famous directors, survey’s the work of experimental theatres that devise their work, and ends with twenty-one practical exercises. The second edition includes material from interviews with a diverse range of directors and includes perspectives on identity, race, trauma, and joy in working on new plays and redefined classic works.

How to Read a Play is written for anyone who loves studying the craft of directing. Students and early career directors will be introduced to basic techniques for breaking down a script for production. Established artists will enjoy a behind the scenes peek at the methods and processes of directors with a diverse range of perspectives.

Damon Kiely is a professional director, writer, and professor of directing and acting for the Theatre School at DePaul University. He is the author of How to Rehearse a Play: A Practical Guide for Directors (Routledge 2020) and Play Directing: The Basics (Routledge 2023).