Liaison to Theatre, Speech, & Dance Dept.: Jim Deffenbaugh, 221-3057
Research: Getting Started @ Swem
OBIES (Village Voice Off-Broadway theatre awards).
Bryan, George B., ed. Stage Deaths: A Biographical Guide to International Theatrical Obituaries, 1850-1990. 2 vols. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. Ref PN2205 .A1 S76 1991
Contemporary Authors Gale Research Company.
Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. 67 vols. Ref PN 2012 .W52
Mikotowicz, Thomas J., ed. Theatrical Designers: An International Biographical Dictionary New York: Greenwood Press, 1992 Ref PN 2096 .A1 AM54 1992
Rigdon, Walter, ed., Biographical Encyclopaedia & Who's Who of the American Theatre. New York: JH Heineman, 1966 Ref PN 2285 .R5
Shakespeare and the Players - "A survey through postcards of the many now unfamiliar English and American actors who played Shakespeare's characters for late Victorian and Edwardian audiences"
Who Was Who in the Theatre, 1912-1976. 4 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1978. Ref PN 2597 . W52
Young, William. Famous Actors and Actresses on the American Stage. New York: RR Bowker, 1975. Ref PN 2285 .N65 1989
See also web sites under "General"
The web offers a large variety of images of buildings, homes, furniture, clothing, and decorative arts from many countries and time periods. To find additional, relevant web sites, use Google, or your own personal favorite search engine. Don't forget to check out web sites for art museums, historical societies, and libraries for images as well.
AP Images - Online database of thousands of photographs searchable by subject.
Cassin-Scott, Jack. The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Costume and Fashion: From 1066 to the Present. London : Studio Vista, 1994. Ref GT 585 .C38 1994
Copeland, Peter. Working Dress in Colonial and Revolutionary America. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1977. Ref GT 607 .C66
The Costume Site - Over 100 links to web sites with historical and contemporary costumes from all over the world.
Racinet, Auguste. Historical Encyclopedia of Costumes. New York: Facts on File, 1988. Ref GT 510 R3313 1988
History of Costume - Over 500 illustrations of dress worn around the word from ancient cultures to the later nineteenth century.
International Theatre Design Archive
Metropolitan Museum of Art Collections
Peacock, John. The Chronicle of Western Fashion: From Ancient Times to the Present Day. New York : H.N. Abrams, 1991. GT511 .P42 1991
Perseus Project - Images of Greek sites, buildings and objects
O. E. Schoeffler and William Gale. Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973. Ref TT 617 .S36
Slide Show Selector: Classical Images
An Annotated Dictionary of Technical, Historical, and Stylistic Terms Relating to Theatre and Drama: A Handbook of Dramaturgy by R. Kerry White. Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, 1995. Ref PN 2035 .W48 1995
Dictionary of the Black Theatre: Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Selected Harlem Theatre by Allen L. Woll. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983. Ref PN 2270 .A35 .W64 1983
Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms
International Dictionary of Theatre ed. by Mark Hawkins-Dady. Vol. 1: Plays, Vol. 2: Playwrights, Vol 3: Actors, Directors, and Designers. Chicago & London: St. James Press, 1992. . Ref PN 2000 I 474 1992
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. 2nd ed. 5 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984. Ref PN 1625 .M3 1984
World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre ed. by Don Rubin. London & New York, Routledge, 1994 Ref PN 2035 .W67 1994
Cambridge Guide to Theatre ed. by Martin Banham. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Ref PN 2035 C27 1995
Internet Theatre Database: A Searchable Archive of Theatre Past, Present, and Future - Searchable archive of Broadway and London theatre, past, present, and future.
Internet Theatre Index - Lists 1,283 web sites covering all aspects of theatre research and production
Theatre Books - Vendor for thousands of book titles about theatre and theatre people.
Theatre Central - "...the largest compendium of theatre links on the Internet."
International Theatre
Journal & Newspaper Articles and Reviews
America: History and Life - scholarly articles about the history of theatre and theatre-related issues.
Art FullText - Production issues, theatre architecture; international in approach.
American Humanities Index Online
ArticleFirst - General
Dissertations and Theses - Full-Text - Scholarly approach to topics and issues relating to theatre.
factiva - News and analysis of current plays, theatre industry, specific productions.
Humanities Index - Available in print in Reference Index Area
JSTOR - Scholarly approach to theatre topics.
Lexis/Nexis - National and local newspaper accounts of current plays, theatre industry, specific productions.
Music Index Online - Information on musical productions, current and historical
Performing Arts in Colonial American Newspapers - CD in Reference Dept.
Periodicals Index Online Project Muse - Academic approach to theatre-related issues.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature - Available in print in Reference Index Area AI3 .R48
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 1967 - present - Mostly academic approach to theatre-related issues.
The best way to find the text of a specific play is to search Swem's online catalog by "author" (name of playwright). This will retrieve both the individual titles as well as the collected works of a playwright.
To find plays published in anthologies, 1) do a keyword boolean search in Swem's online catalog, using the author's last name and one or more keywords from the title, Ex: shakespeare and lear, 2) check one of the Play Indexes (see below). If you still have no success, ask a reference librarian for help.
The following are a sample of play anthologies and collections at Swem:
The Best Short Plays, 1953-1989 New York : Dodd, Mead, 1953-1989. PN6111 .B47 -
Best Mystery and Suspense Plays of the Modern Theatre. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1971. PR1259 .D4 R5 1971
The Best One-Act Plays. London: G.G. Harrap, 1932- PR 1272 .B4 1937
The Best Plays, 1952-1989 New York : Applause Theatre Book Publishers, 1953-1989. PN 2266 .A2 B4
Colored Contradictions: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Plays. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Plume, 1996. PS628 .N4 C65 1996
Contemporary Plays by Women of Color : An Anthology edited by Kathy Perkins and Roberta Uno. London ; New York : Routledge, 1996. PS627 .M5 C66 1996
Gay Plays : An International Anthology. New York: Ubu Repertory Theater Publications, 1989. PQ1240 .E5 G35 1989
Medieval Drama : An Anthology. Oxford ; Malden, Mass. : Blackwell, 2000. PR1260 .M43 2000
Plays of the Holocaust : An International Anthology edited with an introduction by Elinor Fuchs. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1987. PN6120 .H73 P54 1987
Renaissance Drama: An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments. Malden, Mass. : Blackwell Publishers, 1999. PR1263 .R45 1999
Scenes & Monologs from the Best New Plays: An Anthology of New Dramatic Writing from Professionally Produced American Plays. 1st ed. Colorado Springs, Colo. : Meriwether Pub., 1992. PN2080 .S238 1992
Twenty Best Plays of the Modern American Theatre. New York: Crown Publishers, 1939. PS 634 .B4 1ST
Women Playwrights : The Best Plays. Newbury, VT Smith and Kraus, 1992-1998. PS 628 .W6 W654
A small number of plays are available online:
American Variety Stage - 257 playscripts from American vaudeville, 1870-1920
ALEX Catalog on Online Texts - "...a collection of public domain documents from American and English literature."
Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Internet Classics Archive - mainly Greco-Roman works; includes Aristophanes, Euripides, etc.
English Verse Drama Database - More than 2,200 works by playwrights from the 13th century to the end of the 19th century.
Eugene O'Neill Archive - Selected O'Neill plays.
Project Gutenberg - Collection of full text, public domain books and plays.
Also try using the search engine, Google; enclose the title of the play within quotation marks.
Play Indexes
Inter-Play: An Online Index to Plays in Collections, Anthologies, and Periodicals
Play Index, 1949-1990. New York: HW Wilson, 19- Ref Z 5781 .P53
Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections. 7th ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988. Ref PN 1655 .A1 O8 1988
Emerson, Robert and Jane Grumbach, eds. Guide to Monologues, Men: An Index of Over 800 Monologues from Classical and Modern Plays. New York: Drama Book Publishers, 1988. Ref PN 2080 .G84 1988
Emerson, Robert and Jane Grumbach, eds. Guide to Monologues, Women: An Index of Over 800 Monologues from Classical and Modern Plays. New York: Drama Book Publishers, 1988 Ref PN 2080 .G85 1988.
Morris, Karen, ed. Ultimate Monologue Index 2nd ed. Lyme, NH: Smith & Kraus, 1999. Ref PN 2080 .S6 1999
Curtain Up: Internet Theatre Magazine of News and Reviews
*The New York Times is now available online from 1851-2003.
New York Times Theater Reviews, 1870-1919. 6 vols. New York: New York Times, 1975. Ref PN 1581 .N38
New York Times Theater Reviews, 1920-1970. 10 vols. New York: New York Times, 1971. Ref PN 1581 .N4
For reviews in the New York Times after 1970, use the paper indexes to the New York Times under the heading, "Theater". Located in the Reference Dept, 1A
Salem, James M. A Guide to Critical Reviews. 3rd ed. Metuchen, NJ" Scarecrow Press, 1984. Ref PN 2266 .S24 1984.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Minneapolis : H.W. Wilson Co., 1905- present Ref AI 3 .R48 - Index Shelves. This index is good for finding historical reviews or ones written contemporaneously at the time of the original production. Look under the heading, "Theater Reviews"
See also "Journal and Newspaper Articles and Reveiws" above.
Purchase Rights and Permission to Use Plays
The Playfinder - Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Small-Cast, One-Act Guide Online - List by playwright of 600 plays with four or less actors, synopsis of plays, e-mail links to write for scripts and permission to use.
Samuel French, Inc. - Provides published scripts to theatrical producing groups
Research Sources
African-American Theatre Directory, 1816-1960: A Comprehensive Guide to Early Black Theatre Organizations, Companies, Theatres, and Performing Groups. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Ref PN 2270 .A35 P48 1997
Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co., 1984 Ref PN 2012 .W52
Demastes, William W., ed. American Playwrights, 1880-1945: A Research and Production Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995. Ref PS 351 .A1 A43 1995
Durham, Weldon B., ed. American Theatre Companies, 1749-1986. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. Ref PN 2237 .A43 1986 (3 vols, call number varies slightly)
Guernsey, Otis L., ed. Directory of the American Theater, 1894-1971. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1971. Ref Z 5781 .G83
Kullman, Colby H. and William C. Young, eds. Theatre Companies of the World. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986. Ref PN 2052 .T48 1986
New York Public Library. Research Libraries. Dictionary Catalog of the Theatre and Drama Collection. Boston: GK Hall, 1976. Ref Z 5785 .N562 1974
Shaland, Irene. American Theater and Drama Research: An Annotated Guide to Information Sources, 1945-1990. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. Ref PN 2266.3 .A1 S53 1991
Silvester, Robert. United States Theatre: A Bibliography from the Beginning to 1990. Romsey, Hampshire, England: Motley Press, 1993. Ref PN 2221 .A1 S587 1993
Theatre History Sites on the WWW
Theatre World. multi-vol. New York: Crown Pub., 1951- (title and publisher varies) Ref PN 2277 .N5 A17
Theatregoer's Almanac: A Collection of Lists, People, History, and Commentary on the American Theatre ed. by Thomas S. Hischak. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Ref PN 2266 .H53 1997
WPA Federal Theatre Project Collection, 1935-1939 - Administrative documents as well as playscripts, images, and direction notes for Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, MacBeth, and Power
Theatre Houses
Carthalia - Andreas Praefcke's postcard collection of international theatres and concert halls, contemporary and historical, that includes exterior and interior views.
Monologues/Dialogues
*Colin's Movie Monologues - Brief monologues and dialogues from popular movies.
See also Plays and Play Indexes on this page for more monologues
Miscellaneous
Actor's Equity Association Handel's National Directory for the Performing Arts. 5th ed. Dallas, TX: NDPA, 1988- Ref PN 2289 .H34
Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet: Theatre - How-to on Elizabethan performance of swordplay, costume design, speech, dance, music, and ceremony.
Music, Dance, & Theater Scholarships: A Complete Guide. Cleveland, Ohio: Conway Greene, 1995. Ref LB 2338 .M87 1995 Summer Theatre Directory. Washington: American Theatre Association, 2000. Ref PN 2289 .S84
Summer Theatre Directory by Name, State, or Region
Theatricopia - All about musicals.
