Table Read

The first table read for Tribes USA was videotaped on Wednesday 29 May. This was a ‘cold’ table read, so, the actors saw and reacted to the script for the first time as they read it. A lot of great feedback was generated from the read and has since been incorporated in Version 11 of the script.

Notes

The play is 2hrs and 11min long.
The video is VERY basic with some notable deficiencies.
- - Only panelists 1 through 8 are in frame. The reporter (Jason) and panelists 9 and 10 are out of view.
  - Video went dead during Act 2 from time 12 minutes to time 16 minutes. There is a four-minute stretch of the performance missing between the videos ACT 2 Part 1 and ACT 2 Part 2.
There were some execution anomalies.
- - Actor playing panelist 7 (Craig) also plays the producer character (Stan)
  - Actor playing the part of Panelist #1 (Elaine) did not arrive until 37 minutes into the performance. Until that point, her part was played by someone else. When the actor arrives, there is some seat swapping in the middle of the scene.
  - Actor playing Lamar had difficulty reading his lines throughout.
  - Only four music demos were allowed for the read, and only a portion of those were played at the relevant points in the read. All the other song lyrics were read aloud by the actors, rather than sung. Some of the choruses of the songs have words or phrases repeated often. When these repeated words or phrases are read in unison by the actors (rather than sung) the ensemble sounds eerily cult- like. Don’t let that distract you. Demos for eight of the 14 songs are available in the ‘Songs’ tab.