The standard texts of ancient Greek play scripts are all in the public domain. It is only certain modern translations that may have some copyright restrictions. On this page you will find the full text to the plays of the great classical tragedians Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles, plus works of the comic playwright Aristophanes.
In the theatre, a monologue is a speech delivered by a single character. “Monologue” is derived from the Greek words “monos” (single, alone) and “logos” (speech, word). Monologues are typically performed in the presence of other characters and are often directed towards them. Monologues from plays are typically used for acting auditions.
A large selection of links to Elizabethan and Jacobean playscripts located across the web from playwrights Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, John Webster, Thomas Dekker, Francis Beaumont, and William Rowley.
Here is a selection of links to all of William Shakespeare’s play scripts in PDF with line numbers. Comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. History plays include Henry VIII and Richard III. Tragedies include Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Romances include Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale.
Dramaturgy is one of the most confusing and misunderstood areas of theatre. Its roots lie in Ancient Greece, yet it was not until the 1760s in Germany did theatre have its first working dramaturg. Bertolt Brecht brought dramaturgy into the 20th century by employing multiple dramaturgs on his works in the 1920s and 30s, yet…
Realism as a theatre movement emerged in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. As a genuine theatre style, realism was a reaction against romanticism and the sensationalism of melodrama which dominated the stages of Europe and America for much of the 1800s. The realistic movement continues to influence theatre to this day.