Theatre-specific Databases | General Databases | Websites | Print Resources

Theatre-specific Databases

MLA International Bibliography
The Modern Language Association International Bibliography indexes over 3,000 periodicals in the area of literature and linguistics, as well as books, book chapters, and dissertations.  

Literature Resource Center
Literature Resource Center provides information on authors and literary works from all nationalities and time periods. The database includes information from reference books, literature encyclopedias, and over 250 academic literary journals.

Project Muse
Project Muse provides the full-text of approximately 300 peer-reviewed scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Also links to full-text articles in JSTOR.

JSTOR
JSTOR is an electronic collection of full text scholarly journals. The complete archives of these journals are available starting with the very first issues, many of which date from the 1800s. The most recent 3-5 years of each journal are not included.

Twayne Authors Series
Twayne Author Series contains the full text of 600 popular Twayne Literary Masters books on individual World, US, and English authors.  

Women Writers Online
Women Writers Online provides the full text of hundreds of texts by pre-Victorian women writers. Texts cover the period from 1400 to 1850.

ITER Gateway to the Middle Ages
ITER's bibliography covers all literature pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). Over 1,100 journals are indexed, as well as over 700 monographs and essays.

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General Databases with Some Theatre Content

Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier provides indexing and abstracting of almost 7,000 peer-reviewed journals, with full text for over 3,600 peer-reviewed journals. Offers over 30 theatre journals.

Ebrary
Ebrary contains thousands of full text electronic books including plays, criticism, and scholarship about theatre.

MasterFile Select
EBSCO MasterFile Select provides full text for more than 700 general reference magazines and journals, with coverage dating as far back as 1984. Offers 8 theatre journals. 

ProQuest Research Library
ProQuest Research Library indexes more than 2,000 periodicals, and provides the full text of over 1,200 of them. Offers 14 theatre journals. It has a mix of general interest and academic journals that cover the arts, business, education, health, humanities, psychology, sciences, and the social sciences.  

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Websites

Dramatis Personae Archive
http://www.dramatispersonaearchive.org
This digital collection is devoted to European dance, theater, and visual arts from 1600 to 1850. The site includes rare digitized books, maps, newspapers, and journals from the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library, with open access for everyone.

Voice of the Shuttle: Resources for Drama and Theatre Studies
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=782
Created and maintained by Alan Liu of U.C. Santa Barbara, this is the a wonderful Web source for theatre resources.

Literary Resources: Theatre and Drama
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/theatre.html
Great collection of links to sites on the Internet dealing especially with theatre, excluding most single electronic texts, and is limited to collections of information useful to academics. 

Theatre History on the Web
http://www.videoccasions-nw.com/history/jack.html
Excellent collection of resources on the history of theatre. Created and maintained by Dr. Jack Wolcott, retired Associate Director of the University of Washington School of Drama.

McCoy's Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies
http://www.stetson.edu/csata/custom/thr_guid.html
An extensive and scholarly annotated guide to electronic theatre resources created and maintained by Dr. Ken McCoy, Stetson University.

InterPlay
http://www.lib.pdx.edu/systems/interplay/
An online index to plays in collections, anthologies and periodicals.

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
http://nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html
NYPL's Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center offers both circulating and research collections, including many primary sources. They also offer exhibitions, public programs, and research services.

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Selected Print Resources  

Annals of the New York Stage
Call Number REF PN 2277.N5 O4
This 15-volume collection is a complete record of the New York stage from its beginnings until mid 1894.  

Broadway: Its History, People, and Places: An Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.
Call Number REF F 128.65.T5 B56 2004  
This A to Z resource covers Broadway’s producers, writers, composers, lyricists, set designers, theaters, performers, and landmarks, providing a comprehensive history of the Great White Way.

Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, 2nd ed.
Call Number REF PN 2221.C36 2007  
This new and updated encyclopedic guide, with over 2700 cross-referenced entries, covers all aspects of the American theatre from its earliest history to the present. Entries include people, venues and companies scattered through the USA, plays and musicals, and theatrical phenomena. Additionally, there are some 100 topical entries covering theatre in major US cities and such disparate subjects as Asian American theatre, Chicano theatre, censorship, Filipino American theatre, one-person performances, performance art, and puppetry.

Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama
Call Number REF PN 1861.C65 2007  
An A to Z reference for modern drama, this authoritative encyclopedia differs from others in highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of drama by placing playwrights and plays within their social, cultural, and historical contexts. Over 450 leading scholars provide students, general readers, and scholars with clearly written and concise entries that steer clear of technical jargon while also offering advanced readers new perspectives on familiar figures, movements, trends, issues, and texts. The Encyclopedia concentrates on drama in the literary sense rather than as performance.

Companion to Renaissance Drama
Call Number REF PR 651.C66 2002  
This companion provides an expansive and inter-disciplinary approach to Renaissance plays and the world they played to. Gives facts and data along with up-to-date interpretation of the plays, and looks at the drama in terms of its cultural agency, its collaborative nature, and its ideological complexity.  

Encyclopedia of Acting Techniques
Call Number REF PN 2065.P47 1997
Contains step-by-step exercises and improvisations for both the individual and groups. Fully illustrated in color throughout, the first part of the book shows you how to use your body and voice to maximum effect, how to prepare play texts, analyze the character you are playing, and use costume and props. 

Encyclopedia of Stage Lighting
Call Number REF PN 2091.E4 B66 2003
Contains over 1500 entries. Some of the numerous topics covered are equipment, methods, concepts, design process, electricity, characteristics of light, and lightboard operations. Where applicable, entries present both the historical and current day significance of the apparatus or concept being introduced. .

Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
Call Number REF ML 102.M88 G3 2001
This volume includes articles on people and the most produced works throughout most of the world for the last 150 years. Biographical articles are quite complete, some running to two pages and more, and include exhaustive lists of works written or performed. Articles on specific works include plot summaries and information on performers and production places, dates, and details.  

History of the Theatre, 10th ed.
Call Number REF PN 2101.B68 2008
This 40th Anniversary Edition retains all of the traditional features that have made History of the Theatre the most successful text of its kind including worldwide coverage, more than 530 photos and illustrations, useful maps, and the expertise of Oscar G. Brockett and Franklin J. Hildy, two of the most widely respected theatre historians in the field. This tenth edition provides a thorough and accurate assessment of theatre history available and includes contemporary milestones in theatre history.

Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
Call Number REF PN 2035.O94 2003
This 2-volume set contains over 4,300 entries with illustrations. Coverage ranges from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments in theatre around the globe. The Encyclopedia pays special attention to non-Western styles through articles on theatre and performance throughout the many countries and traditions of Asia and Africa, often written by practitioners or critics from those areas. Dance, opera, performance art, radio, film, and television are covered at length.

Theatre World
Call Number REF PN 2277.N5 A17
Theatre World, the annual statistical and pictorial record of the Broadway and off-Broadway season, touring companies, and professional regional companies throughout the United States, has become a classic in its field. The book is complete with cast listings, replacement producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, and much, much more. There are special sections with biographical data, obituary information, listings of annual Shakespeare festivals and major drama awards.

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Created by Cathy Perkins. Last updated 30 April 2008.