About

Active Theatre Review is about the decisions that turn a script into a live production. We cover amateur theatre-making for people taking part in local and independent productions, whether they are choosing a play, organising rehearsals or finding a visual language for the stage.

The work around the words

A production is more than a script and a performance. It is also a set of linked choices: what the group can stage, how rehearsal time is used, where attention should fall and what the audience needs to understand. We examine those choices without pretending that one method fits every play or group.

For curious makers

Our readers may be performers, directors, designers, organisers or people who simply want to understand how a production comes together. We aim to make the craft legible to newcomers while giving experienced makers useful language for decisions they already face.

Details with a purpose

We favour specific questions over grand rules. A set, cue or rehearsal exercise is worth discussing when its purpose is clear and its effect can be considered. The aim is not to prescribe a style, but to help readers make choices that belong to their own production.