How to Read Plays Online for Free

Sometimes you want to dive into a great play without making a trip to the library—and luckily, you don’t have to. Whether you're a student, a performer, or just a fan of theatre, there are plenty of places online where you can read full scripts for free from the comfort of home. From timeless classics to contemporary gems, these digital resources make it easier than ever to explore the world of drama with just a few clicks.

Check out these eight free resources for studying up from home:

The Folger Shakespeare Library

Brush up your Shakespeare and access all of the Bard's works for free. This library is the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, with text from the Folger Shakespeare editions. From Hamlet to Cymbeline, Othello to Two Gentlemen of Verona, and every play and sonnet in between- this is your on-stop shop for Shakespeare.

MTI Free Reads

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Check out their "Free Read" shows, which include msucials as varying as Beetlejuice and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Playscripts' Free Reads

Through Playscripts, a part of Broadway Licensing Global- whose collection of titles represents 40 Tony Award and 49 Pulitzer Prize-winning works, you can read a rotating selection of plays for free.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks (plays included!) for you to enjoy.

Audible (30-Day Free Trial)

Audible makes it easy to listen to plays from the comfort of home, and you can do it for free with a 30-Day trial. Popular featured playwrights include Samuel Beckett, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, and of course, William Shakespeare.

Scribd (30- Day Free Trial)

Scribd is a subscription service taht gives you access to over 200 million documents and counting. Here you can check out full scripts from famous authors, or browse one-acts and monologues. 

SimplyScripts

SimplyScripts is another database of hundreds of downloadable scripts, movie scripts, screenplays, and transcripts of current, classic and maybe a few soon-to-be-released movies, television, anime, unproduced and radio shows.

OpenLibrary

With OpenLibray's eBook Lending Library, you just need a Library account to start borrowing plays. The database includes works by Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, Sophocles, and many more.