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Plays

A selection of theater plays in the public domain that are free to use, adapt, and share.

What is the public domain? The US Office of Copyright defines that a work is "in the “public domain” if it is no longer under copyright protection or if it failed to meet the requirements for copyright protection. Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner."

Many classic plays from before 1927 are already in the public domain. However, not all digital versions and formats are born equal. This section aims to offer the best digital version of canonical and under-appreciated pieces of dramatic literature that you can use for teaching, production, or adaptation. 

01

Three Classic Athenian Tragedies

 

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This first volume of The Compact Anthology of World Literature edited by Laura Getty includes a public domain translations of Medea by Euripides, as well as a translations by D.W. Myatt of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles licensed CC-BY-NC-ND. For a public domain translation of Oedipus Rex, you can access a PressBooks version here. The same collection also includes Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles. 

03

Shakespeare Free Digital Copies from Folger Library

 

 

 

 

 

One of the preeminent sources of everything-Shakespeare is the Folger Shakespeare Library
in Washington, DC. Their website offer nicely designed pdf copies of all his plays, which are in the public domain and can also be access in Project Gutenberg's The Complete Works of William Shakespare.

02

Four Classics from Toronto Metropolitan University 

 

 

 

 

 

TMU offers a collection called Public Domain Core Collection. For now, the Pressbook catalog include handsomely edited versions of a Roman comedy by Plautus, a play by the first known female playwright Paphnutius by
Hrotsvitha, and two beloved French neoclassical canonical plays in translations a tragedy by Racine, and a farce by Moliere.

04

Medieval Classics

 

 

 

The Internet Medieval Sourcebook at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies offers copyright free access to translated classics such as Dulcitus by Hrosvitha and the anonymous classic Everyman.

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