Script Righting

Ask most of Los Angeles’ gazillion writers (and that means just about everyone from your last waiter to your kid’s orthodontist) just what kinds of scripts they’re working on and you’ll generally get the silent treatment.

Whether it’s superstition or paranoia, wannabe Hollywood scribes are often loath to talk about--let alone read out loud--their precious written gems.

Thus the Saturday Sitcom Writing Workshop at The Kindness of Strangers comes as something of a shock. Enter the eclectic, shabbily comfortable cafe’s public front area and you will immediately be able to see and hear about a dozen fledgling TV comedy writers hard at work, honing their spec sitcom episodes by letting actors take the pages out for a test run.

Each Saturday afternoon, the group shares its ideas and words with anyone who happens to be at the cafe. Any Joe off the street can listen and give his opinion on which scenes were funny and which ones weren’t.

“I’ve been in a number of [writers’] groups, but this one is different,” student E.J. Jones said. “This beats going to Starbucks with your laptop and talking out loud to yourself. Writing is usually such a lonely experience.”

Not here.

First is a rowdy reading of writers’ scripts by professional performers. The reading takes place at a long, wooden table to simulate the industry’s practice of “table reading,” or running through lines with a not-warmed-up cast to quickly see what works and what doesn’t with actual human voices.

After the reading, actors and writers joke and schmooze briefly before the actors depart and it’s time for a line-by-line script post-mortem with class instructor and veteran sitcom writer Sheree Guitar. The large group gathered over spec episodes of such TV shows as “Will & Grace” and “Just Shoot Me” attracts curiosity, according to cafe co-owner Jan Reesman.

“People do come in just to see what’s going on,” said Reesman, who does not charge the group to use the space. True to L.A. form, she is not only a restaurateur but a writer who was once a member of the workshop. “Once in a while,” Guitar said, “I’ll be short a few performers, and I’ll literally grab someone who’s watching and say, ‘Do you act?’ ”

Naturally, the answer has often been “yes.” Other passers-by with writing aspirations have ended up joining the class.

“I like to listen in because they say some pretty outrageous things,” patron Paul Schroeder said. “And they’re not bad writers, either.”

*

BE THERE

The Kindness of Strangers, 4378 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. The cafe opens at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday and 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Closing time varies. Call (818) 752-9566.