My dear friend Beth Henley gave me the best advice about staged readings. “Invite friends. Read the play. Pour the wine.” It’s so easy to get stuck in what I (dis)like to call Playwright’s Purgatory. That is, permanent development. You get reading after reading of your play, but no production. And to make matters worse, you suffer through talk-backs that are not only useless, but quite damaging. I have made point of refusing to participate in talk-backs at a reading. This is not “Dancing with the Stars” or “American Idol” or any other variety show that allows audience voting. And even then, they are voting on a so-called finished product. It seems to me that audiences expect to have their say even before a play is produced. If that’s the case, they how does anything ever get produced? It’s one thing to hear a draft before an audience, but quite another to solicit feedback (or be forced into feedback) while still in the act act of writing. It makes no sense, and only leads to frustration. Talk-backs are for Q&A sessions after a production, not “let me tell you how I would write the play” torture after a reading. So, last night, I had the best reading of my career so far. Private home. Private guest list. No more than 25 people in attendance. A mishmash of furniture. Bread and cheese and a lovely spread of light dinner. Spectacularly talented actors. A remarkable and rare director. A gracious hostess. And all in a large living room. Having had important readings in major venues, I can tell you, this was by far the most productive and enlightening step in the development of a new play that I have ever had. The night was about the play, not the playwright. The night was about the characters, not the audience. The night was about the possibility of production, not the end-road of a reading. It was not stacked with sycophants. They were smart, talented, experienced, and honest listeners. But don’t get me wrong. They were opinionated and passionate. Point is, rather than offering an opportunity to grandstand, we finished the reading then socialized. I (the playwright) and the director, merely moved from conversation to conversation. Listening. Asking. Listening. Answering. Listening. No one had a ‘turn at mike.’ And it was the most productive, exhilarating, enjoyable reading of my life. So, for those of you fellow playwrights out there struggling to get readings done at theatres, or those of you who feel stuck in Playwright Purgatory, try this: Invite friends. Read the play. Pour the wine. It might be as simple as a dinner party. With your words.