Subject Guides: Theatre: Reference

Online Theatre Reference

Drama Online This link opens in a new window Complete digital library of the most studied and performed plays from the last 2,500 years. Contains scholarly notes, annotated texts, contextual information, synopsis, biographical entries, and material on acting, directing, and lighting. Features drama titles from the Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare lists, and the LA Theatre Works. Includes epics, monologues, and one-person plays in all time periods, as well as translations of major foreign works. Features play tools with character grids, words and speech graphs, and over 500 images.
Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre This link opens in a new window This concise version of the acclaimed Oxford Companion to the Theatre covers all aspects of theatre worldwide and throughout the ages. It contains entries on a vast range of theatrical styles, dramatists, performers, and directors, as well as information on theatres, festivals, and such technical topics as lighting, sound, and method acting.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).

Glossary of Theatre Terms Comprehensive searchable listing of technical theatre terms.

Theatre in Context (ASP) This link opens in a new window Formerly North American Theatre Online, this is a comprehensive reference work covering all aspects of the Canadian and American Theater. It includes major reference materials, plays, people, theatres, productions and production companies. Also includes some images, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks and other resources.
Play Index (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Play Index includes 40,000 plays published 1949 to the present. An invaluable aid to finding the perfect plays to match your production resources, Play Index covers a wide range of plays written in or translated into English, including mysteries, pageants, plays in verse, puppet performances, radio and television plays, and classic drama. Search for plays by title; author; subject (sisters, culture conflict, marriage); style (symbolism, experimental theater); genre (comedy, melodrama, musical); cast type; and more. *The record for each play provides: *Title and author of the play. *Descriptive annotation that summarizes the plot or dramatic action. *Number of acts and scenes. *Size and gender of the cast. *Number of sets, noting whether they are interior or exterior. *Notes on any dancing or music required. *Identification of plays suitable for children and young people.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online This link opens in a new window Provides annotated entries for all important books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical productions, reviews of productions, audiovisual materials, electronic media, and other scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare. The scope is international, with coverage extending to more than 92 languages and representing every country in North America, South America, and Europe, and nearly every country in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Coverage: 1969-2002

Biographical Sources

British Playwrights, 1956-1995: A Research and Production Sourcebook. HUM REF PR 736 .B75 1996

Contemporary Dramatists. HUMREF PR 737 .C57x (latest ed. in HumRef, earlier in stacks)

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. 1984-present. (annual). HUM REF PN 2208 .W5

Contemporary Women Dramatists. HUM REF PR 736 .C58 1994

Highfill. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. 1973-. 16 vols. HUM REF PN 2597 .H5

Major Modern Dramatists. 2 vols. HUM REF PN 1861 .M27 1983

Mann. Women Playwrights in England, Ireland, and Scotland, 1660-1823. HUM REF PR 635 .W6 M36 1996

Notable Women in the American Theatre: A Biographical Dictionary. HUM REF PN 2285 .N65 1989

Smith. Who's Who in Comedy: Comedians, Comics, and Clowns from Vaudeville to Today's Stand-ups. 1992.
HUM REF PN 1583 .S6 1992

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Banham. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. HUMREF PN 2035 .C27 1995

Bordman. American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1869-1914. HUM REF PN 2256 .B6 1994
------. American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1914- 1930. HUM REF PN 2256 .B6 1995
------. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. HUM REF PN 2220 .B6 1984

Bronner. The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre, 1900-1975. 1980. HUM REF PN 2266 .B68

Ceballos, Edgar. Diccionario Enciclopedico Basico De Teatro Mexicano. HUM REF PN 2311 .C37x 1996

Courtney. Dictionary of Developmental Drama: The Use of Terminology in Educational Drama, Theatre Education, Creative Dramatics, Children's Theatre, Drama Therapy, and Related Areas. HUM REF PN 3171 .C6388 1987

* Magill. Critical Survey of Drama. 1994. 7 vols. HUM REF PR 625 .C74x 1994

Drama Criticism. 1991. 3 vols. HUM REF PN 1601 .D59

Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo. 9 vols. + 2 suppls. 1954-78. HUM REF PN 1625 .E7

Hartnoll. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. HUM REF PN 2035 .H3 1967

Hawkins-Dady. International Dictionary of Theatre. 3 vols. HumRef PN 2034 .I49 1992

Leiter. The Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, 1920-1930. 2 vols. HUM REF PN 2277 .N5 L36 1985

Loney. 20th Century Theatre. 2 vols. HUM REF PN 2189 .L65 1983

Lounsbury and Bonlanger. Theatre Backstage from A to Z. HUM REF PN 2091 .M3 L68 1989

McGraw-Hill Encylopedia of World Drama. 5 vols. 1984. HUM REF PN 1625 .M3 1984

Magill. Critical Survey of Drama: Foreign Language Series. 6 vols. 1986. Volumes 1-5 cover dramatists; volume 6 includes essays and index. Excellent source for critical summaries of major foreign dramatists. HUM REF PN 1625 .C74 1986

Packard et al. The Facts on File Dictionary of the Theatre. 1988. HUM REF PN 2035 .F27 1988

Philpott. Dictionary of Puppetry. HUM REF PN 1972 .P47 1967b

* Rubin. The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre. 6 vols. HumRef PN 2189.W67 1994.

Swortzell. International Guide to Children's Theatre and Educational Theatre: A Historical and Geographical Source Book.
HUM REF PN 3157 .I58 1990

Trapido. An International Dictionary of Theatre Language. HUM REF PN 2035 .I5 1985

Wilmeth and Miller. The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre. HUMREF PN 2220 .C35 1993

Bibliographies-- General

Annotated Bibliography of New Publications in the Performing Arts. 1972-present . HUM REF PN 1584 .X1 A55

Bibliographic Guide to Theatre Arts. 1975-present. (annual) HUM REF PN 1620 .N562x
Lists books cataloged by New York Public Library and the Library of Congress.

Carpenter. Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism: An International Bibliography.
HumRef PN1625 .X1 C532 1986 (1966-1990)
HumRef PN1625 .X1 C5322x 1997 (1981-1990)

Chicorel Bibliography to the Performing Arts. 1972. HUM REF PN 1584 .X1 C45

Hunter. Drama Bibliography. 1971. HUM REF PN 1625 .X1 H84

* International Bibliography of Theatre (IBT). 1982-present (bi-annual) HUM REF PN 1561 .X1 I5
Comprehensive compilation of resources by the American Society for Theatre Research & the International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts, in cooperation with the International Federation for Theatre Research.

Bibliographies-- By Subject

Bryan. Stage Lives: A Bibliography and Index to Theatrical Biographies in English. HUM REF PN 2205 .X1 S82 1985

Crothers. The Puppeteer's Library Guide: the Bibliographic Index to the Literature of the World Puppet Theatre. 1971. 2 vols.
HUM REF PN 1972 .X1 C7

Evans. Comedy: An Annotated Bibliography of Theory and Criticism. HUM REF PN 1922 .E92 C65x 1987

Fordyce. Children's Theatre and Creative Dramatics: An Annotated Bibliography of Critical Works. 1975.
HUM REF PN 3157 .X1 F67

Howard. A Bibliography of Theatre Technology. 1982. HUMREF PN 2091 .S8 X62

Performing Arts Resources, 1974-present. (annual) HUM REF PN 1584 .X1 P46

Rickert and Bloomquist. Resources in Theatre and Disability. HUM REF PN 1590 .H36 R53 1988

Shaland, Irene. American Theater and Drama Research. 1991. HUM REF PN 2266.3 .X1 S43 1991

Slide. Selected Vaudeville Criticism. HUM REF PN 1968 .U5 S35 1988

Steadman. Dramatic Revisions: An Annotated Bibliography of Feminism and Theatre, 1972-1988.
HUMREF PN 1590 .W4 S84 1991

Stoddard. Stage Scenery, Machinery, and Lighting: A list of books, articles, pamphlets on the subject from classical Greek theatre to theatre of the 1970s. HUM REF PN 2091 .S8 X83

Women in American Theatre. HUM REF PN 2226 .W6 1987

Bibliographies-- By Period

Arnott and Robinson. English Theatrical Literature, 1559-1900. HUM REF PN 2581 .X1 A74 1970

Boyer, Robert. Realism in European Theatre and Drama 1870-1920, a Bibliography. 1979. HUM REF PN 1851 .X1 B69

Cavanagh. British Theatre: a Bibliography, 1901 to 1985. 1989. HUM REF PN 2581 .X1 C38 1989

Silvester. United States Theatre: A Bibliography from the Beginning to 1990. 1993. HUM REF PN 2221 .X1 S85 1993

Stevens. English Renaissance Theatre History: A Reference Guide. 1982. HUM REF PN 2589 .X1 S83

Stratman. Restoration and Eighteenth Century Theatre Research: A Bibliographic Guide, 1900-1968. 1971.
HUM REF PR 701 .X1 S87

Wilmeth. The American Stage to World War I. 1978. HUM REF PN 2221 .X1 W55

Directories

American Theatre Companies, 1749-1887. Ed. by Weldon B. Durham. HUM REF PN 2237 .A43 1986
1888-1930 Supplement - HUM REF PN 2256 .A44 1987 1931
1986 Supplement - HUM REF PN 2266 .A54 1989

Everett. The Performing Arts Major's College Guide. HUM REF PN 1577 .E94 1992

Hischak. The Theatregoer's Almanac. HUM REF PN 2266 .H53 1997

Merin. International Directory of Theatre, Dance, and Folklore Festivals. HUM REF PN 1590 .F47 M47 1979

Sarver and Markus. A Novel Approach to Theatre: from Adams to Zola. HUM REF PN 3352 .T45 S27 1997

Sharp. Index to Characters in the Performing Arts. 1966-73. 4 vols. in 6. HUM REF PN 1579 .S45

Sourcebook for the Performing Arts: A Directory of Collections, Resources, Scholars, and Critics in Theatre, Film, and Television. comp. by Anthony Slide, Patricia King Hanson, and Stephen L. Hanson. HUM REF PN 2289 .S65 1988

Theatre Profiles. 1973-present. (Annual) HUM REF PN 2266 .T48

Stevenson. The Tony Award. HumRef PN 2270 .A93 T6 2001

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Primary Sources

AM Explorer This link opens in a new window Choose the theme "Theatre" and start exploring primary sources.
Eighteenth Century Drama, Censorship, Society and the Stage This link opens in a new window Material for researchers in theatre and drama, literature, history, politics, music, censorship, gender, romanticism during the eighteenth century

New: Drama Online

Complete digital library of the most studied and performed plays from the last 2,500 years. Contains scholarly notes, annotated texts, contextual information, synopsis, biographical entries, and material on acting, directing, and lighting.