An Introduction to Dramatic Readings and Plays for New Readers

Plays are great fun to do, here at LibriVox -- it's a wonderful way of involving the wide range of voices our global membership can boast. However, the way they work is slightly different to other readings at Librivox. Dramatic projects on Librivox come in two main forms: plays and dramatic readings

Differences between Dramatic Projects and Other Projects

The main difference between dramatic projects and, say, group projects is that in a dramatic project, you claim a character instead of a character and YOU ONLY READ THE LINES OF THAT CHARACTER. You need a different file per Act (or sometimes Chapter)and you don't need to read the disclaimer. Also, most parts in Dramatic Projects are smaller than chapters, but the projects generally take longer. #

As I mentioned above, there are two types of Dramatic Project:

Plays

Well, plays are plays! They are linked to a script as the source and you read off the script listed under Source on the first post (same as a book) unless it states otherwise. Instead of claiming a chapter (or Act), you only claim a character. And you only record lines for that one character. You don't need to read the stage directions or what's in the brackets, you just read what an actor would perform if he was given the play to perform. It really is that straight forward. You start by saying [Character Name] read by [your name] and example of this would be Silvius read by Charlotte Duckett. You don't read the disclaimer. Then you record your lines. Generally you need to leave 2-5 seconds silence between each line. This makes it easier for when the BC is editing the final scene together.

Dramatic Readings

A Dramatic Reading is like a solo project, except different people read for each character. Most scripts for these are Google Documents (though some people do use PDFs.) Other than that, it is almost exactly the same as a play. You only read what your character says. In ones that are color coded, these lines are the ones that are your characters colors (it says so on the top of the Google document) or, in the case of Circe, in the MW. Easy.

Cat's Top Tip

:The best friend of every Dramatist at LV is the F3 key. It allows you to search for a specific word or phrase in a piece of text. If you're looking at a script, press it and type in your characters name to find lines more easily!