Introduction

Thespian Studio is an actor's IDE (Integrated Development Environment).

With it, you can read scripts, rehearse roles, and record your performances. Save your recordings into reloadable sessions, so that none of your work is lost. Let the system automatically read through the script and prompt you for your lines. Thespian Studio is all you need to prepare for roles.

Reading scripts has never been more pleasurable. Select one of the lovely color themes, and toggle into Read Mode. Scroll to read the scene, with your part(s) highlighted, and flip left or right to navigate between scenes.

Are you reading in a group? You can easily select multiple roles to perform.

Thespian Studio comes with all 37 of Shakespeare's plays. Additional script packs will become available in the future for a small fee. More social collaboration features are planned for future versions.

How to Read

To read a play, navigate to the play's Table of Contents. It will look like this:

Following each scene title, there are two numbers.

• The number in parenthesis () is the number of line blocks for your chosen role(s) (in this case, Romeo) has in the scene.
• The number in brackets [] is the number of recordings you have made of your chosen role(s) in the scene.

Scroll to the bottom of the Table of Contents.

Underneath the heading APPENDIX is an item called "All Line Blocks for This Role". This is a scrollable listing of all lines from all scenes for the role(s) you have chosen.

The item "MORE INFORMATION" links to a public wiki about the play.

Now let's discuss the term "line block".

Shakespeare plays, and most classical plays, are written in poetic format. A speech by a character may have 20 "lines". Here is an example:

In Thespian Studio, these lines are bundled together into a "line block". By default, the lines are condensed into a paragraph format. Line breaks are replaced with circular separators, like so.

To restore the original line breaks, tap Menu -> Options -> Condense Reading Mode. Or, if you are in the Rehearsal Mode, tap Menu -> Options -> Condense Rhrse Mode.

If your device doesn't have a hardware menu button, it should have a menu icon on the screen. It probably looks a circle with three dots inside, like this:

In reading mode, you can change scenes by swiping left or right.

To "pin" a line, so that it will be shown when you switch to Rehearsal Mode, tap on the line. The screen will reset, and the line you tapped will be shown at top. Now you can tap Menu -> View Mode to switch to Rehearsal Mode, and the line you selected will be highlighted there.

How to Rehearse

Toggle the View Mode in the Menu to switch to Rehearsal Mode.

To record, tap the Record Button.
To stop recording, tap the Stop Recording Button.
To play the recording, tap the line block pane.
To stop playing, tap the line block pane again.

Sometimes the line block is too large to display on the screen, and scrolling is not enabled by default. To enable scrolling on a long line, press and hold the line pane. It will change to a green color. Now you can scroll through it.

Once this mode is activated, you will need to swipe the role name to go back or forward. Swiping the line pane will not work (for the current line block only).

Automatic Rehearsing
This mode will auto-advance through the scene and play chime when it arrives at your line. One you have read your line, swipe left. The app will advance to your next line, and so on and so forth.

To start automatic rehearsing, press the Rehearse button. All lines leading up to your lines will be read - that is, if they have a recording, or if you told the robot to read unrecorded lines. To stop, press the Stop Rehearsing button.

Menu Options

Thespian Studio's menu has a number of options. You can access it by pressing your device's hardware menu button or the on-screen menu icon, which probably looks like this:

The menu looks like this:

Menu choices

• View Mode - switches between Read and Rehearse Modes.
• Help - Links to this blog
• Zoom In - Increases the text size.
• Zoom Out - Decreases the text size.
• You
• New Workspace - wipes the current recordings. Does not wipe exported / backed-up recordings.
• Export Workspace - saves recordings to a backup.
• Import Workspace - imports a saved, named workspace.
• Delete Workspace - deletes a saved, named workspace.
• Share Recording (will only appear in Rehearsal Mode) - allows you share a recording via text message or email.
• Options
• Role - lets you choose the role(s) you want to perform.
• Theme - changes the app's color scheme.
• Condense Read Mode - when checked, line breaks within a character's speech will be replaced with black dots.
• Condense Rehearse Mode - when checked, line breaks within a character's speech will be replaced with black dots.
• Hide Lines - when checked, your lines will not be shown (in rehearsal mode) unless you hold your finger down on the line pane (long press).
• Prompt Sound - the sound you will hear when it is time to speak your line.
• Turn Robot On - when checked, the robot will read lines that have no voice recording.
• Robot Voice - choose the speed and timbre of the robot voice. Note: on devices that have more realistic Text-To-Speech voices, this setting may have no effect.
• Show Stage Directions - when checked, stage directions will be shown.
• Turn On Debug Logging - this helps us debug in case of a problem with the application. Turn this on to enable better reporting in the event you send us feedback.
• Record in MPEG-4 Format - by default, recordings are burned to MP4. To change this to 3GP, uncheck the box.

FAQ

Why does the menu only show Help?

To see the other Menu options, you have to choose a play. Select a script pack, then a play. Once you are on the play's Table of Contents, or in the Read or Rehearse view, the other Menu options will become available.

How do I choose different roles?

Access the Menu, press Options, and then Role. Choose the role(s) you want to play, click OK, then click the device's back button.

How do I share a recording?

In rehearsal mode, first navigate to the line block you want to share. Tap Menu -> You -> Share Recording. Select an app with which to send the recording. For example: gmail, or a text message app. Follow the prompts to customize your message and send it.