What is the AAUW Read-Around Group?
The AAUW Read-Around group is a structured way for us to enjoy being together while we read and experience the power of literature, usually short stories, but sometimes one-act plays or non-fiction. It’s informal, non-competitive and fun. You can take a turn reading or, If you would prefer to listen rather than read, that’s just fine, too.
The Read-Around Group is a Bennington Branch “Special Interest Group.” All AAUW Bennington Members are welcome. Come as little or as often as you can.
What happens at a Read-Around Session?
We sit in a virtual circle, taking turns reading a script that our leader has prepared for us. Often, after each reading, we talk about what we’ve read–what we liked best about the selection, what the author made us think about, or what we’d like to know more about. No preparation is necessary for participants. Usually, the choice of reading material is not announced ahead of time.
The reading is displayed on the Zoom screen. We take turns reading, one person always following the preceding person. Typically, we each get a few turns per story. Sometimes, we share dialogue by taking parts. If there are crucial words or names that are challenging to pronounce, we look at them together before we start. We do our best with random unfamiliar words. We don’t stop for minor errors.
Our meetings are a twenty-fist century version of the Suffragist Parlor Plays, “social gatherings that didn’t just entail chatting over a cup of tea; they often engaged guests in loosely structured storytelling activities, known as parlor plays.” Another analogue is the theatre’s traditional “round table readings,” where a new cast will meet for the first time, take their assigned roles, and read the play aloud.
Some of the authors we have enjoyed include: James Thurber, Haruki Murakami, Kate Chopin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Anton Chekov, Lorrie Moore, Jamaica Kincaid, and Lady Gregory
Meet our Read-Around Group Leader
Ruth Landowne Giordano, read-around group leader, is a theater and radio arts specialist from Williamstown, MA. Ruth has compiled or authored many scripts for readers, including “A Tree Called Aesop,” an adaptation of ten Aesop fables. This past December this text was performed on Zoom in the Czech Republic.by the Prague Youth Theatre.
Many of us will recall first meeting Ruth in February, 2019, when she led a reading of a 1914 suffragist parlor play at our branch meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House.
In her own words:
“Throughout my life, I’ve dedicated myself to performance art: dance, drama, opera, film, costumes & puppetry.”
“My current – and lasting – passion is for sharing great stories with my immediate community.”
–Ruth Landowne Giordano
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