Samuel French Launches Downloadable Plays

Last April, I pleaded my case that it was time for actors to spend their hard-earned ducats on a tablet computer. My reasoning was that with so many incredibly useful actor-oriented apps available, it was worth the expense, and at least part of that expense could be a legitimate tax deduction. Those reasons are about to take a back seat to a new one, however: the long-awaited arrival of downloadable plays.By the time you read this, publisher Samuel French will have begun offering 400 plays for download, sold through Apple's iBookstore. By the end of the year, the company will have 1,000 titleswhich it calls ePlaysfor sale, says Katy DiSavino, Samuel French's marketing and social media supervisor.But the longtime play publisher is hardly alone in offering downloadable drama, as Dramatists Play Service plans to roll out its own digital titles within the next three months. Purchasing plays will be a quick and easy download from the company's website (www.dramatists.com). They'll be sold in the widely used EPub format, which is compatible with about 50 e-book readers, according to Michael Q. Fellmeth, Dramatists Play Service's vice president for publications and IT.The two companies' plays will appear a bit different on your tablet or e-reader. You'll be able to view your Samuel French purchases as part of your iTunes library. For your Dramatists Play Service titles, you'll use something called Adobe Digital Editions, a free app that acts very much like iTunes in the way it organizes and displays the plays you've downloaded. Ultimately, the user experience will be very similar.If you're debating whether to buy an iPad or an e-book reader, it may simply come down to dollars and cents. An iPad 2 starts at $499, while the basic model of Barnes & Noble's e-reader, the Nook, can be had for $139. If it's mainly a play reader you're looking for, the numbers may speak for themselves.Dramatists Play Service's digital plays will cost the same as the printed editions, says Fellmeth, "so the standard acting-edition price will be $8, and librettos for musicals will be $9." This is in line with Samuel French's pricing, I should add.Imagine: a larger font size (nearly any size you want), light weight, and no wasted paper. Moreover, all tablets and e-book readers should be able to read PDF files, so you can skip printing out a one-time-use script for your next new-play reading. For me, that all adds up to a bit of digital heaven.Other play publishers will follow in these digital footsteps. And not a moment too soon.