It&#x27;s been a long time since I was in that position;  almost none of the plays are new to me at this stage.  (I&#x27;ll confess, though, that I&#x27;ve neither seen nor read Coriolanus, Cymbaline, or Timon of Athens.  Or, for that matter, any of the Apocrypha)  For me personally, I would absolutely do exactly the same as you;  if I was going to attend a production of any of those plays which I&#x27;ve not yet experienced, I would read the script, first.<p>But for someone who isn&#x27;t yet accustomed to the language, I expect that it would be a hard slog, getting through the texts without an actor&#x27;s interpretation to help you along.