This book is an attempt to begin filling the need for an aesthetic for Readers Theatre by abstracting from such sources as the history of theatre practice, the history of literary structure, the psychology of visual perception, and the history of aesthetics, some principles of audience-text-performer relationships. The book is written primarily from the point of view of the Readers Theatre director; it considers particular problems encountered by the director and suggests how the abstracted principles of audience-text-performer relationships could be applied in a production that is aimed at featuring the literary text. Chapters Two through Six consider problems encountered in selecting literature, and in casting, directing, and designing; there is also a brief discussion of performing in Readers Theatre. Chapter Seven provides practical application of the principles discussed by taking a complete Readers Theatre script and indicating how these principles could be used to feature the text in performance. (Author/CK)