The scripts map -- borrow, write, rehearse

Where a script comes from, and where it goes

A script for a school show starts one of two honest ways: borrowed free from the FreeSchoolPlays catalog, or written from scratch in playscript.software. Either way it ends up in the same place -- synced to the whole cast on the Living Promptbook, current on every device from first read-through to closing night. This page is the honest map of that path: what is live today, and what is still early access.

Book a conversation See the three paths

7plays live today in the FreeSchoolPlays catalog

2standalone monologue pieces among them

0royalty or per-performance fee, ever, on any catalog title

3products mapped on this page, each independently hosted

Where scripts come from

Borrow it, write it, or rehearse it -- three products, one honest map

Each path below is described in the same depth its own source page uses, and every status label matches what that page says about itself.

Path 1 · Borrow it: the FreeSchoolPlays catalog

FreeSchoolPlays catalog (7 plays, 2 standalone monologues) is the one claim on this page allowed to say "live" without a qualifier: every title is free to read, rehearse, and perform today, at zero royalty and zero per-performance fee, always. The only ask is attribution -- a credit line to the author and FreeSchoolPlays.com -- and it is required by the live license today, never optional and never removable once a packet or program is generated. The library is browsable by age band, genre, length, gender flexibility, forensics eligibility, drawn from the structured script metadata, not an algorithmic guess.

FreeSchoolPlays catalog (7 plays, 2 standalone monologues): Live today at FreeSchoolPlays.com - readable, printable, and performable. No account required.
Attribution required (live license term): Live today: the Free School Plays license requires the author + Free School Plays credit line, kept lenient and good-faith. Automatic pre-fill into generated packets ships with the early-access audition tooling.
Filterable by 5 dimensions: Age band, Genre, Length, Gender flexibility, Forensics eligibility
Forensics eligibility tags are illustrative only -- never an official NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certification

Live today at FreeSchoolPlays.com - readable, printable, and performable. No account required.

Built and run on freeschoolplays.com.

Path 2 · Write it: playscript.software

When the catalog does not have the piece a program needs, the same family includes an editor built for the stage from the geometry up: compound act-scene-page numbering, a first-class Musical mode, five school-drama forms as distinct authoring profiles, and real-time collaboration so a student playwright and a drama educator can co-author the same document. The editor is in active development and open to early access today; it is never described as generally available on this page.

9 script element types
10 format variants
5 school play forms
3 open portable formats
Yes. Playscript imports .fdx (the screenplay-exchange XML that professional tools write) and .fountain plain-text files, and reads its own FTX format. Import is element-typed, not a flat text paste: character cues, dialogue, scene headings, and stage directions arrive as the correct element type, so the format engine can renumber and reformat them the first time you open the file. If your source uses a screenplay layout, you can switch it to any stage-play format variant after import.

Early access -- playscript.software's stage-play editor

Built and run on playscript.software.

Path 3 · Rehearse it: the Living Promptbook

Upload or link your script. Bring a script in from playscript.software, a Fountain file, or a plain PDF. The director's workspace lays out the full text with scene-by-scene navigation, so you can move through French scenes and act breaks without thumbing pages. Assign characters, mark your cuts, rough in blocking, and drop rehearsal notes as you prep -- the work you do at the kitchen table the week before is the same script the company opens at first read-through. Once a script is in, the sync substrate that carries it is production-ready today, not a prototype -- the promptbook-specific reader, blocking view, and cue list built on top of it are still in development.

Sync engine in production (sync substrate)
Actor voice notes: In development - consent-gated for minor cast members
Yes. Scripts written in playscript.software can be brought directly into the promptbook without file conversion. Productions using plays from the Free School Plays library get attribution pre-populated automatically. The three tools are separate products but built on the same substrate so they pass data cleanly when a production moves from writing to rehearsal to ticketing.

Sync engine in production; promptbook surface in development

Built and run on playscripts.digital.

The filter taxonomy

Five dimensions, drawn from the script metadata itself

The catalog's five filter dimensions come from the structured script metadata in the FreeSchoolPlays engine, not from an algorithmic guess. The same taxonomy that narrows a search on monologue.network is the one described here.

Age band

Elementary (K-5), middle school (6-8), high school (9-12), or all-ages. Every piece carries an age recommendation from the FSP editorial review.

Genre

Comedy, drama, dramatic comedy, verse, classical adaptation, contemporary, or warm-up exercise. Genre tags come from the structured script metadata, not from algorithmic inference.

Length

Under 2 minutes, 2-4 minutes (audition-standard), 4-7 minutes (full), or 7+. Estimated at roughly 150 words per minute from the source text - actual performance time varies with pace and blocking.

Gender flexibility

Fully gender-flexible (works for any performer without rewriting), gender-specific as written, or either (the text specifies gender but adapts cleanly without changing meaning).

Forensics eligibility

Classified for Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Prose, Poetry, Platform, and related events. These classifications are illustrative only and are not official NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certifications. Always verify with your event's published rules before competing.

Cast the show: a free monologue library and audition-day tools

Before a season's rights are even cleared, most programs already need audition material, and a photocopied binder of monologues older than the current department chair is not a casting strategy. The FreeSchoolPlays library is browsable by age band, genre, length, gender-flex, and an illustrative forensics-eligibility tag -- never an official NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certification, disclosed everywhere the tag appears -- and every play and monologue in it is free to read, rehearse, and perform at zero royalty and zero per-performance fee. An audition-cut packet generator turns any monologue into a print-ready, audition-day page with a slate block and a machine-placed, non-removable attribution credit, produced in the browser as an ordinary print-to-PDF, never a fabricated export. Practice recording so a student can hear their own reading back is consent-gated: no audio is stored or transmitted for a minor cast member until a guardian has approved it. The catalog itself is live today; the browser interface, the audition-cut tooling, and teacher assignment tie-ins are early access. Where each piece originates, and where a cast's working script goes next for rehearsal, is mapped in full at schooltheatre.network/scripts.

Catalog live; browser and audition tools early access

Full stage map: schooltheatre.network/#stage-auditions. Built and run on monologue.network.

About this page

Three real products, nothing invented

This page maps three separate, independently hosted products -- it runs no editor, no catalog, and no sync engine of its own. The FreeSchoolPlays catalog is the one claim here allowed to say "live" without a qualifier: zero royalty, zero performance fee, attribution required and non-removable. Every other claim on this page carries the exact status word its own source page uses for itself.

playscript.software's editor is early access. The Living Promptbook's sync substrate is production-ready; its director/actor surface (the reader, blocking view, cue list, and voice notes) is in development. Neither is described as generally available anywhere on this page.

No pricing, no checkout, no subscription commitment appears anywhere on this page. A conversation is the next step, not a purchase.

Book a conversation Read the FAQ

Get started

Tell us where your script is right now

There is no pricing commitment and no signup on this page. A conversation shows the current, honest state of the catalog, the editor, or the promptbook, and connects you to the right product directly.

To book: email [email protected].

FAQ

Common questions

Is there a connection to freeschoolplays.com and playscript.software?

Yes. Scripts written in playscript.software can be brought directly into the promptbook without file conversion. Productions using plays from the Free School Plays library get attribution pre-populated automatically. The three tools are separate products but built on the same substrate so they pass data cleanly when a production moves from writing to rehearsal to ticketing.

Source: playscripts.digital

Can I bring in scripts I have already written?

Yes. Playscript imports .fdx (the screenplay-exchange XML that professional tools write) and .fountain plain-text files, and reads its own FTX format. Import is element-typed, not a flat text paste: character cues, dialogue, scene headings, and stage directions arrive as the correct element type, so the format engine can renumber and reformat them the first time you open the file. If your source uses a screenplay layout, you can switch it to any stage-play format variant after import.

Source: playscript.software

How many pieces are in the library right now?

The FreeSchoolPlays catalog - the source library - currently contains seven published works - original scripts plus Chris's own public-domain adaptations - including two standalone monologue pieces: The Red Monologue and The Red Monologue 2.0. Character monologues from the other five plays are being extracted and tagged as the structured data model is completed. More works are added continuously through the FSP content engine.

Source: monologue.network

Are the forensics eligibility classifications official?

No. The classifications - Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Prose, Poetry, Platform, and related event types - are illustrative only and are not official NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certifications. Rules vary by region, district, and season. Always verify the current eligibility rules with your specific event's official published rulebook before entering a piece in competition.

Source: monologue.network

Is a script's attribution credit carried into the promptbook automatically?

Source: schooltheatre.network

What is actually live today on this page, and what is early access?

The FreeSchoolPlays catalog is live: every title free to read, rehearse, and perform today, zero royalty, zero per-performance fee, attribution required. The rehearsal sync substrate behind the Living Promptbook is production-ready today. The playscript.software editor and the promptbook's own reader, blocking, and cue-list surfaces are early access -- built and demoable, not yet open for general sign-up.

Source: schooltheatre.network

Does any of this involve a public list of student names?

No. This page describes three products and how a script text moves between them -- never a class roster. A minor cast member's voice note inside the Living Promptbook is consent-gated: a guardian must approve before any audio is stored or transmitted, and that is not a setting an administrator can turn off.

Source: schooltheatre.network