Scene Partner

 

What It Does:  Helps Actors Memorize Lines
Where to Buy It:  Available through the Apple App Store for iPad, iPhone, or iPod
What It Costs:  Free
Personal Rating:  ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Scene Partner helps an actor memorize their lines, gives the teacher or theatre a chance to have a virtual library of scripts that can be shared, and allows writers to upload their own scripts.  The whole idea of "free" is the only part that is misleading.  Although the app itself is free, there are several costs for features, downloading and uploading.

You can input scripts into your Library several ways. Download public scripts (currently public domain scripts from authors such as Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Moliere, etc.)  Or you can select scripts from supported publishers Samuel French or Dramatist Play Service (musicals are about to be added, as well, from Music Theatre International).  Or upload scripts from scene books or originally written plays following the company's guidelines, submit them through the website, using a simple registration and login process, and then transfer them to your device.

Once you have a script, tap one to select it, then choose the character or characters you’re playing to load the appropriate lines. Scene Partner can present just your lines, just your cues, both together, or every line in the scenes you’re in, depending on your preference. Tap the “Play” button to hear your lines read aloud, either by an electronic voice, or fellow cast members who’ve recorded them into the app. There are two arrow buttons to move to the following and previous scenes, or another button to repeat what you’ve just heard. Scene Partner is incredibly intuitive and easy to use.

Unfortunately, it’s also fairly limiting, if you want to keep the cost low. Editing your script, including breaking it down into beats; reading the entire thing; highlighting sections of it; and adding voice memo notes are all extras in the Scene Partner Feature Pack, priced at $1.99 each or $4.99 if you buy them all together. Sick of the two default voices that read with you?  Seventeen others are available for $1.99 a pop—and they are many variations.  Keep in mind they are digitalized speech and sound pretty much sound like a robot.

Importing any script from any source to your device costs $1.99 again—even if you provide (or wrote) it yourself.   Basically you are going to be paying the Scene Partner folks for the privilege of using their software. The Dramatist Play Service scripts are also estimated to run about $10 per book.

Here is a link to a You Tube video about Scene Partner:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9IU9dGTx8