Public-domain scripts, read as structure
From Shakespeare to Kim U-jin and Ham Se-deok: eleven public-domain plays and screenplays broken down act by act, with the craft each one still teaches. English-language excerpts open directly in the studio's script editor.
Every work here is out of copyright. Translations may still be protected, so only English-language originals are excerpted.
Korean classics
- Screenplay1926
Arirang (1926)
Na Un-gyu · KoreaA young man broken by prison kills a landlord's henchman who assaults his sister, and is led away over the Arirang pass.
Silent film · Resistance narrative · Korean classicRead → - Play1926
Wild Boar (Sandoeji)
Kim U-jin · KoreaA young man born to a Donghak rebel is torn between social struggle and private life, and confronts his father's generation's deaths in a dream.
Expressionism · Dream scene · Korean classicRead → - Play1939
The Little Monk (Dongseung)
Ham Se-deok · KoreaA little monk abandoned at a mountain temple attaches himself to a visiting widow from Seoul, but the temple will not let him go, and he walks down the mountain to find his mother.
One-act · Coming of age · Korean classicRead →
Renaissance
- Play1601Original excerpt
Hamlet
William Shakespeare · EnglandA Danish prince learns from his father's ghost that he was murdered, and his delayed revenge brings down himself and the whole court.
Tragedy · Revenge · Five actsRead → - Play1597Original excerpt
Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · EnglandTwo young people from feuding houses fall in love in one night and, undone by their elders' feud and one missed letter, die together within five days.
Romance · Tragedy · Compressed clockRead → - Play1606Original excerpt
Macbeth
William Shakespeare · EnglandA general who hears three witches' prophecy murders the king with his wife and takes the throne, only to be destroyed by the very prophecy he trusted.
Tragedy · Descent arc · ProphecyRead →
Modern
- Play1895Original excerpt
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde · United KingdomTwo gentlemen leading double lives under the invented name 'Ernest' are unmasked when two women insist on marrying a man of that name.
Romantic comedy · Mistaken identity · Three actsRead → - Play1879
A Doll's House
Henrik Ibsen · NorwayWhen a secret loan turns into blackmail, a wife realises she has lived as a doll and walks out of her home.
Realism · Living-room drama · Three actsRead → - Play1904
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov · RussiaA ruined landowning family cannot decide anything as debt threatens their cherry orchard, until a former serf's son buys it and cuts the trees down.
Ensemble · Subtext · Four actsRead → - Play1897
Cyrano de Bergerac
Edmond Rostand · FranceA poet-swordsman ashamed of his huge nose lends his words to a handsome, tongue-tied young man so both can love the same woman.
Romance · Love triangle · Five actsRead →
Ancient
- Playc. 429 BC
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles · Ancient GreeceA king hunting his predecessor's murderer to end a plague discovers the killer is himself and his wife is his mother.
Tragedy · Investigation · Dramatic ironyRead →
How to use this
- 1Copy the structure
Move the act/scene table straight into your own chapter plan. Swap characters and setting and the skeleton stands.
- 2Open an excerpt to learn the format
'Open in studio' creates a script document from the excerpt. Cycle lines between scene, character and dialogue with Tab until the format is in your hands.
- 3Rewrite one scene
Rewrite the same beat in your own setting. You can also ask the AI assistant to move a scene to present-day Seoul.
FAQ
- Can I use these scripts freely?
- Yes. The works are out of copyright, so quoting, adapting and republishing are allowed. Translations may still carry the translator's rights, which is why only English originals are excerpted. For Korean works, read the originals at the National Library of Korea and similar archives.
- Why mostly plays rather than screenplays?
- Very few public-domain film scripts survive as text (Arirang, for example, is lost as both film and script). Plays share the dialogue and scene structure of screenplays and work just as well for format practice.
- What happens when I open one in the studio?
- A new script-format project is created with the excerpt as its first document. It is saved to your account when signed in, otherwise in this browser.