Fact sheet

It’s a good fit if

You write for the stage

Plays, musicals and sketch comedy. The page, the defaults and the keys are all for the theatre.

You use a Mac or a Windows PC

macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel; or Windows 11, or Windows 10 version 22H2, on an x64 or Arm PC.

You want it free

No subscription, no trial, and nothing held back for a paid tier. The code is public.

A theatre or festival has sent its format rules

Seven layouts ship: the Dramatists Guild’s Modern, Traditional and Musical, Samuel French / Concord, a UK layout with the names on the left, Proscenium House and Sketch Comedy. Settings has a designer for any other. Changing the format reflows the page and leaves the words alone.

Your draft is in another program

It opens Final Draft, Word, Pages, OpenDocument, RTF, Markdown, Fountain and plain text files as a new play, and keeps the original untouched.

You don’t want your play in an AI

Nothing in the app reads the script, and the writing never leaves the writer’s computer.

You want files that outlast the app

The script is a plain text file. Any text editor opens it.

You have never used script software

Six guided lessons of about three minutes each, inside the app.

Look elsewhere if

You write screenplays

Proscenium is for the stage and it stays there.

You aren’t on a Mac or a Windows PC

There is no Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android or web version.

Two people need to type in the same script at the same moment

Co-writers each work on their own computer and the play travels between them in a shared folder. Changes shows what the other altered, cut words struck through and added ones underlined on the page, with a way back.

You depend on a screen reader

Every build is checked against WCAG 2.2 AA by automated tests, and everything works from the keyboard. It has not been tried with a screen reader such as VoiceOver or Narrator, so it makes no promise there yet.

The facts

Name

Proscenium

What it is

Playwriting software: a desktop app for the Mac and for Windows.

Price

Free.

License

Open source, AGPL-3.0-or-later.

Version

1.0.4

Runs on

macOS 14 or later. One universal build for Apple silicon and Intel.

Download

A signed and notarized disk image from proscenium.ink/download.

Also runs on

Windows 11, and Windows 10 version 22H2. A build for x64 PCs and one for Arm PCs.

Download for Windows

An installer for x64 PCs from proscenium.ink/download/windows-x64, or for Arm PCs from proscenium.ink/download/windows-arm64. It is not signed, so Windows warns the first time it opens: More info, then Run anyway. It installs for the one user, with no administrator.

With Homebrew

brew install --cask proscenium-app/tap/proscenium

Updates

It updates itself. Settings › Updates chooses Stable or Beta; an Intel Mac takes Stable only, and every Windows PC may choose either.

Account

None. Nothing to sign up for or sign into.

Made by

Alexander Habiby, a playwright and producer.

Files and formats

A play on disk

One folder: the script as a Fountain file (.fountain), character sheets and notes as Markdown (.md), and one small project file (.proscenium).

Where it lives

In iCloud Drive on a Mac, Documents › Plays on Windows (kept by OneDrive when it keeps the Documents folder), or any folder the writer chooses.

Opens

Final Draft (.fdx), Word (.docx), Pages (.pages), OpenDocument (.odt), Rich Text (.rtf), Markdown (.md), Fountain (.fountain, .spmd) and plain text (.txt). From Google Docs, download a Word copy first.

Exports

PDF, Word (.docx) and OpenDocument (.odt): the whole play, a range of pages, one actor’s sides, or an anonymous copy for a blind submission.

Privacy

The writing stays on the Mac or PC

Proscenium never collects play text, titles, character names, filenames or paths.

What the app does send

A check for updates, and anonymous usage counts and crash reports that carry none of the writing. Settings › Privacy turns the reports off.

The complete list

Everything that may leave the Mac or PC, field by field, is on the privacy page.

Learning it

Help & Tutorials

Six guided lessons of about three minutes, in a practice play of their own. Show Me does a step for you.

Open the Sample Play

On the Plays screen. Two acts, four characters and every element the editor knows.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Every key in one list, from the Help menu, or ⌘/ on a Mac and Ctrl+/ on a PC.

Writing

Enter, Tab and ;

Each new line is the kind you probably want. Tab changes it; a semicolon opens every element, a letter beside each.

(CONT’D)

A speech that runs over a page takes its name with it, and no name is left alone at the foot of a page.

Check Spelling as You Type

It knows your cast’s names and the theatre’s words, and each play can be American or British.

Find

Search the whole script, or only dialogue, stage directions, cues, or one character’s speeches.

Comments

Notes to yourself in the margin, in amber. They never print.

Focus

Everything but the page slides away. Esc brings it back.

Seeing the play whole

Board

Scenes as cards. Move a card and the script moves with it.

Outline

Every scene in a table, with its pages, summary, notes and color.

Cast

A cast list made from whoever speaks, and Who’s on stage, scene by scene.

Scene navigation strip

Under the script, each scene sized by its pages, so a long one shows while you’re in it.

Around the script

Binder

Research, character sheets and notes beside the script. Anything in the play’s folder appears there.

Character sheets

Start with Want, Obstacle, Voice, Backstory and Relationships, and keep a list of the scenes each person speaks in.

Split Side by Side

Keep the Board, a character sheet or a dramaturg’s notes open beside the script.

In and out

Import a Draft

Final Draft, Word, Pages, RTF and plain text come in as a new play, with your original kept.

Export PDF

Seven formats, from the Dramatists Guild’s to a UK layout, or design your own in Settings.

Sides

One actor’s speeches, each after the few words that cue it.

Anonymous copy

For a blind reading: no name or contact details.

Edit Opening Pages

The title page, the characters page and any opening notes.

Export .docx and .odt

For the theatre that wants a Word file.

Keeping it

Plain files

Each play is a folder of ordinary files you can open with anything.

Versions

Each session you wrote, in Changes: what you changed in it, and a way back.

Changes

If a file changes on another computer, both versions are kept and you choose.

The Plays screen

Every play with its length and a status, from idea to produced. Shelved is a status, not a verdict.

Where you left off

It opens on the play you were writing.

Comfortable to use

Light and Dark

Or follow your Mac or PC. The page stays paper either way.

Text size

The interface up to 200%, and the printed page stays as it is.

The keyboard

Anything you can drag, you can also do from the keyboard.

Before anything else

Is it really free?

Yes. No subscription, no trial, no “monetization strategy”, and nothing held back for a paid tier. The code is public and you can build it yourself.

Will anyone see my play? Will it end up in some AI?

There is no account to open, no cloud to sign into, nothing reading over your shoulder, and no machine offering to finish your sentences. The play lives in a folder on your own computer, as ordinary files you can open with anything, print, or hand to a director.

Before you switch

I’m on a PC. Does it run on Windows?

Yes. Proscenium runs on Windows 11 or Windows 10 22H2, on x64 and Arm PCs, as well as on a Mac - download it above. A play is the same files on either, so a co-writer on a PC and one on a Mac can share a folder. On a PC the shortcuts use Ctrl, and the Guide shows them that way.

My play is in Final Draft (or in Word, Pages, or my archaic writing system), can Proscenium open it?

Bring it. Proscenium opens Final Draft, Word, Pages, RTF and plain text files. Choose File › Import a Draft, or drop the file on the Plays screen. You see how each line was read before the play is made, and your original file is kept, untouched, in the play’s Originals folder. From Google Docs, download a Word copy first.

Where is my play saved? What if this app disappears?

In the folder you chose the first time you opened it - iCloud Drive on a Mac, or one of your own. Each play is its own folder: the script is a plain text file, the notes are plain text, and the rest is small enough to read. If Proscenium vanished tomorrow you would lose a program, not a line.

Does it meet accessibility standards?

Every build is checked against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard by automated tests, which also press the keys: everything works from the keyboard, and interface text scales to 200% without moving the printed page. It has not been tried with a screen reader such as VoiceOver or Narrator, so it makes no promise there yet - if something gets in your way, please tell us. An exported PDF carries its title, language and reading order.

Can my co-writer and I work on it together?

Yes. Each of you writes on your own computer, and the play travels between you in a shared folder. When your co-writer’s edits arrive, Changes shows exactly what they altered, marked on the page in your play’s format, with a way back. Leave each other comments in the margin - start one with a name, like “Sam: cut this?”, and they’ll know who’s asking.

Is this for screenplays too?

No. It was built for plays and it stays there. Everything: the page, the defaults, and the keys are for the stage.

While you write

Every theatre wants a different format.

Choose it from the title menu and the page reflows. Your words do not change; only the page does. Seven layouts ship, among them the Dramatists Guild’s modern and traditional, Samuel French, and a UK layout with the names on the left. A format is one small file, and Settings has a designer, so the style sheet your festival sent can become one.

The festival wants a blind copy.

Tick Anonymous copy in the export window and the title page goes out without your name or contact details. If your name turns up anywhere else in the script, it tells you where. Your own copy keeps your name.

Where do the title page and character list go?

In Edit Opening Pages, in the title menu: the title page, the characters page and any opening notes. The names and descriptions come from your Cast, and each export lets you choose which of those pages go with it.

They want it as a Word file.

Choose Export .docx… or Export .odt… from the title menu. Each line arrives with a named style - Character, Dialogue and the rest - on your format’s page, with Courier Prime built in. Their word processor sets its own page breaks, so the pages can differ a little from the PDF.

I need sides for a reading tomorrow.

Choose their name under Part in the export window. You get their speeches, each after the few words that cue it, with the scene headings, in the play’s format.

Can I get back something I cut last week?

Yes. Proscenium keeps versions as you write, and Versions, in the title menu, opens Changes on each session you wrote, newest first, with what you changed in it. Restore puts the words back as they were, and the script you had is kept too.

A dramaturg sent notes. Where do they go?

In the binder, beside the script. Drop anything into the play’s folder from anywhere - a PDF from a dramaturg, a note from your phone - and it appears. Your own notes go in the margin as comments, in amber, and never print.