Theatre Scripts

INTRODUCTION

WORLD'S LARGEST RANGE OF THEATRE SCRIPTS

We provide the world's largest range of Shakespeare theatre scripts.  Features include:

• Generous font and spacing   For easy reading and notating at home, in rehearsal or in workshops, our theatre scripts are A4, Arial, font size 12 with generous 1.5 line spacing and generous white space either side of text for mark-up.

• Line numbering   Line numbers in the theatre scripts will correlate exactly with the line numbers in the corresponding ePlay resource.  This makes cross-reference easy.

• Exploded text   The text is exploded so the shape of the main thoughts of the speech - as defined by full-stops (periods), occasionally question marks, and occasionally exclamation marks - can be discerned at glance.

• Underlining   The last few words of every complete thought are underlined.  In Shakespeare the last few words or line of a thought is critical and the actor must drive through to that point.

• Major punctuation   Major punctuation is not only spaced but the colons bolded.  Colons are important in Shakespeare text as they keep the argument going and the energy up.  In some school editions there are almost no colons, only full-stops (periods) which have a deadening effect on performance.  Our scripts have far more intermediate punctuation, include dashes, to maintain pace and the flow of thought.  This is far more attractive to listeners.

• Elision   With the exception of the basic Option 1 script, elision (contraction of words) - based on syllable count and the standard rules of scansion - has already been done for the actor.  Where the actor has choices these are indicated.  Sometimes the syllable count and rules of scansion work the other way and words should, technically speaking, be elongated.  Again the actor is given choices.

• Simple legend   To keep the scripts free of clutter a simple legend alerts the actor line-by-line to performance information in the ePlay resource.  The actor chooses what clues interest them in the ePlay and marks up their script accordingly.

ADVANTAGE OVER BOOKS

Besides the obvious advantages enumerated above:

• Cost   One can make as much mess as one likes of the script with performances notes and then reprint the relevant page(s) at minimal cost to tidy up.  (if you use standard office weight paper of 70gsm you can save even more by printing double-sided.)

• Flexibility   If you have already looked at our DEMOs in the Theatre Script Options Table you will have spotted that the range of performance scripts on offer afford far greater flexibility in workshops and classrooms than the standard Shakespeare textbook.  

• Music stand   For leaning lines the scripts work brilliantly and look great on a music stand.  For rehearsals and workshop they can work equally well for the director / teacher on a music stand.  Their large font means no more squinting into a book.  

• Interactive   The glossary for the script and other performance information in the ePlay can be open on a laptop or projected on a wall for all to share.  Meanwhile our audio speeches are just a click away.

FULL-PLAY, SCENES, & INDIVIDUAL SPEECHES

We provide theatre scripts either for the full play or just for individual speeches.  For scenes just print the relevant pages from the full-play script (each scene begins on a new page to facilitate this).

A unique feature of our scripts for individual speeches is that they come, where applicable, with the cue lines for that speech.  Cue lines, of course, provoke a reply and this feature helps actors begin their response in the right key.

Our theatre scripts for speeches are ideal for learning a speech for an audition, or for exercises in class or workshop.  For working on scenes, simply order the full-play theatre script.