About these texts
The Acto library gathers monologues and scenes written for one thing only: giving actors something to work on. Not an extract from a play you would have to situate, not a classic the panel has already heard four times that day. Texts made to be picked up and performed.
They are free, downloadable as PDF and Word, and available in five languages. This page covers everything else.
Where they come from
These are original texts, written for Acto and edited by us. They are not lifted from any existing play, which means two things: nobody has heard them in an audition before, and nobody can claim rights over them from you.
Five texts are the exception, and they are flagged as such: Shakespeare, Molière, Corneille and Rostand, all public domain, with their source given on the page.
The five languages are not word-for-word translations. Each text was rewritten to be playable in its own language: same situation, same arc, but the line that rings true in a German actor’s mouth is not the translation of the one that rings true in French.
What we will not tell you
No page tells you how to play the text. No imposed intention, no announced emotion, no instructions. Saying a text "is" grief or anger gives it a colour before you have even read it, and that is exactly what an actor should not be handed.
What the pages give you are facts: the length, the casting, the gender and age of every role, what the text asks of you technically. Enough to choose. The rest is yours.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these texts really free?
- Yes. Everything is readable on the site, and everything downloads as PDF and Word with no account, no sign-up and no email to leave. There is no paid version of these texts.
- Can I perform them in public?
- To work on, to audition with, to shoot a self-tape, or to play in class and in workshops: yes, no permission needed. For a public performance or any commercial use, write to contact@acto.re: the answer is usually yes, we just like to know where our texts are being played.
- Can I use them with my students?
- Yes. Print them, hand them out, stage them in class or in a workshop. The PDF pack of each selection exists for that: one file, a dozen texts, ready to photocopy.
- Do I have to credit Acto?
- It is not required, and it is appreciated. A line saying "text by Acto, acto.re" on a programme or in a video description is plenty. For the five public domain texts there is nothing to credit: they belong to everyone.
- How do I choose a text for an audition?
- Take the length you were asked for, never more. Take a role whose age is close to yours: playing a weariness you have not lived shows immediately. And take a text whose situation you grasp in one read, otherwise you will spend the scene explaining it instead of playing it.
- Which languages are they available in?
- French, English, Spanish, Italian and German. Every text exists in all five, and each page links to its four other versions.
- Will there be more?
- Yes. The library grows with the needs people report: what is missing today is texts for children and teenagers, scenes for two women or two men, and very short scenes. That is what gets written next.