Today, I’m in the thick of pre-reading madness—don’t feel too bad for me, however; having the opportunity to put up a play in any form is total joy for a playwright. I’m sure my fellow ‘wrights like Lucy Alibar over at the Public Theater’s Under The Radar Festival are feeling a similar sense of excitement. And if you’ve never been to the annual celebration of new works by relatively unknown playwrights, I highly encourage you to check it out!

People have asked me recently what it takes to put up a Staged Reading, and since this checklist has been going through my head all week, I figured I’d share it with you. Here are 10 items to consider when mounting a professional Staged Reading—hopefully, a successful one. And ultimately, success means raising funds for a production or getting more producers on board to make that happen.

1    ASSEMBLE THE CREATIVE TEAM
In addition to my star producer, I have expanded our small team of creatives to include a director and a movement choreographer. Often these folks are working for free, like me, in hopes they can continue onward to the point where the production has a budget.

2   HOLD AUDITIONS
How could we bring the script to life without our amazing actors? This step may involve registering the reading and the actors, with Actors Equity Association, if you’re going the union route. It also may involve posting an audition notice on Breakdown Services, seen by theatrical managers and agents, or on an actor-friendly casting site like Actors Access.

3   FIND SPACE
Not only the venue space, but audition space and rehearsal space, as well. This can be really costly here in Manhattan and if you have a friend with a big indulgent living room or warehouse just over the water in Brooklyn, all the better.

4   INVITE THE MONEY, HONEY
Getting the attention of New York’s usual suspects—the working producers—can be challenging when a constant wave of local composers, book writers and conceptualists are competing for their attention. Scheduling a reading at atypical times and on multiple days definitely helps. And something I learned last time around: double check that your reading date is not competing with major theatrical events, like the Met Gala—just a completely random example off the top of my head!

5   GRAPHIC DESIGN
Finally, your second cousin’s questionably-acquired Photoshop comes in handy if you want to save some cash by designing your own invites—digital is generally the way these days—and also the event programs. Don’t forget to factor in any printing costs.

6   PURCHASING PROPS AND INCIDENTALS
A Staged Reading is by no means a production and should not be presented as such. And if you’re using Equity performers, you are not allowed to have them use props. However, if you’re going the non-union route, you may want to have some basic props—maybe even rent a projector to incorporate multimedia elements.

7   REWRITES, REWRITES, REWRITES
Chances are, if you’re in the developmental stages of a new work, your script is far from perfect. As you attend rehearsals and observe the actors interacting with the material, rewrites will happen—probably a lot of them. And it’s a good thing.

8   DEALING WITH THE UNKNOWN
Like any event—and if you’ve ever planned a wedding or a bar mitzvah, you get it—things will happen: both disappointments and surprises… your venue floods and you have to find a new one on the fly, your lead actor gets a paying gig like a commercial, your most interested producer has to go to Japan last minute for business—all of these things have actually happened to me at one time or another, btw. Let’s not even talk about sudden illnesses like this crazy flu that’s going around!

9   AVOID A MENTAL BREAKDOWN
…Aaannnd these first eight items bring me to this one: keeping it together under the pressure of planning for one or two really important nights. Things like spa treatments, time away from the project—physically away and mentally away, and remembering that you will have more chances regardless of how successful any one particular reading is. My current producer, for example, and I met each other at a reading of a play of mine that never evolved into a production. But that professional connection has lead to other opportunities like this current collaboration.

10   FOLLOW UP
When the reading is over, it’s your creative team’s job to follow up with producers, get feedback about the project, and pray that the backing might follow.