Bittersweet Serendipity

It is sardonically ironic that the worst pandemic since the Black Death has occurred just as computer engineers developed video chat rooms. While my local group hasn’t met in person since March, 2020, I’ve read at least two, often three or four plays a week online with friends I haven’t known for years and some few strangers, coast to coast.

For anyone familiar with Windows technology, a chat room read is just the same as any other, as described in How It Happens. Just download a play, invite some friends, open a room, distribute copies, and read. For technophobes like me, here’s an overview of how I make it work, with links to PDF files containing detailed, illustrated guidelines.

Phase One: Communicate

Small groups can communicate in person, by phone or e-mail, or engraved invitation; a larger pool works best via social media. Several platforms are available, some for pay, with bells and whistles, others  free. All provide controls for membership, allow members to post and respond to messages, links, and images, and include a simple format for scheduling events—banner image, headline, date and time, location (with map), description, guest list, and RSVP.

For now, CR/I communicates via the Cold Reads/Online Facebook group, for its ubiquity, because it’s free, and because it’s what I know. Plans are in the works to switch to email, with all events posted on this blog. Stay tuned.

Phase Two: Connect Online

There are also several chat room options, each of which is suitable for cold reading. The most popular is Zoom, and instructions for convening in a Zoom room appear in Meeting Online. Other options offer the same functions in different formats; most are available only to registered members; some cost money.

Phase Three: Download Scripts

This topic is addressed in general in Acquiring a Script. For events I host, scripts are distributed via Zoom Chat at the time of the event, as described in Phase Two

Phase Four: Split Screens

To read plays on line, one must be able to view both the script and the faces of one’s fellow readers. There are three ways to do this. One can print out the script and view the faces on one’s device. This can get expensive. [NOTE: Readers using this method must request scripts in advance.]

Another method is to use two devices: one for the chat room one for the script. [NOTE: One must be muted to avoid annoying feedback.] Any device with a camera and internet access (PC/Mac, laptop, tablet, or phone) works fine for both script and faces.

The third method, more complex but preferred, is to display both room and script at once on the same large screen (no phones). Instructions are provided at Floating Windows.

Phase Five: Read the Play

Generally speaking, reading a play on line is simply a matter of scrolling down the pages, although PDF files can cause confusion, and some scripts require special handling with split screens. These anomalies are addressed in Navigating the Script.