Resources By Subject
Theater
what are these?
Databases
Academic Search Premier
The world's largest scholarly, multidiscipline, full-text database designed specifically for academic institutions. Contains indexing and abstracts for over 8,450 journals, with full text for more than 4,600 of those titles. Over 3,600 journals are peer-reviewed.
Cambridge Journals Online
Full-text database which covers multiple journals in the subject areas of music, drama, and theatre. Under “Subjects” you may select “Music and Drama” to further define your search.
Columbia Granger's World of Poetry
A rich compilation of the world’s best remembered and most often taught poems and poets. Of the 450,000 citations almost half contain the full text and many in their original language. Audio is included for some 100 poems as well.
Communication and Mass Media Complete
CMMC offers cover-to-cover ("core") indexing and abstracts for more than 400 journals, and selected ("priority") coverage of 200 more, for a combined coverage of more than 600 titles. This database includes full text for 292 journals, a sophisticated Communication Thesaurus and over 3,000 Author Profiles, with biographical data and bibliographic information.
Gale Academic OneFile
This database provides access to peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources. Includes extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.
Interplay
Inter-Play provides easy access to the locations of printed plays in collections, anthologies, and periodicals. Most of the plays cited are not indexed in the standard printed play indexes such as Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections.
JSTOR
A full-text archival database with access to 15 journals in the field of the performing arts including reviews of Broadway plays and musicals.
Literature Resource Center
Database provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline including novelists, playwrights, and screenwriters.
MLA Bibliography
Covers literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore from 4,400 journals and series worldwide. Coverage from 1926 to the present.
Play Index
Find citations to 31,000 plays published individually or in collections from 1949 to the present. It covers a wide range of plays written in or translated into English, including one-act plays, pageants, plays in verse, radio and television plays, and classic drama. Play Index also includes links to the full text of plays available on the Web, plus other resources.
Web resources
American Theatre Wing
Association dedicated to theatre education which operates an array of programs, including a long-running series of televised seminars, a weekly radio program, a free audio and video archive, as well as grants and scholarship programs.
Applied and Interactive Theatre Guide
Links to resources for interactive and applied theatre
Artslynx International Theatre Resources
Useful directory for all aspects of theatre, from acting, writing and directing to academic resources Resource maintained by Professor Finkelstein, Professor of Theatre Design at James Madison University.
Center for Research in Early English Drama
Links for theater history and early music
Costume Site
History, research, instructions, and resources for the creation of costumes
Site sponsored by U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology
INFOmine: Visual & Performing Arts
Extensive set of links from INFOMine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections, based at the University of California, Riverside.
The Internet Broadway Database
The official archival database for Broadway theatre information
The New York Times Online: Theater Section
Current news and topics in drama and theatre (Some content may be subscription-only; if so, access through New York Times Database.)
Theatre Glossary: Glossary of Technical Terms
Hosted by the University of Exeter (UK) Drama Department, it includes a comprehensive list of both American and British theater terminology.
Tony Awards
The ultimate guide to theatre accolades including video clips from the awards show, interviews with winners, and more.
WWW Virtual Library of Theatre and Drama
Links to resources maintained by the Virtual Library Consortium – original web directory of Tim Berners-Lee
Dictionaries
Facts on File dictionary of the theatre
International dictionary of theatre
International dictionary of theatre language
OED (electronic resource)
Oxford English Dictionary is the definitive record of the Engish language.
Encyclopedias
Cambridge guide to world theatre
Cambridge Histories of American Theatre (electronic resource)
Cambridge Histories of British Theater (electronic resource)
The concise Oxford companion to the theatre (electronic resource)
Encyclopedia of stage lighting
Oxford companion to American theatre (electronic resource)
Professional organizations
Actors’ Equity Association
Labor union representing professional American actors and stage managers
Alpha Psi Omega
National Collegiate Theatre Honorary Society
Art Directors Guild
Guild for creative artists of narrative design
Association for Theatre in Higher Education
Organization advocates for theatre and performing arts in higher education
Christians in Theatre Arts
Organization dedicated to Christians in the theatre
Costume Society of America
Society which focuses and supports the understanding of costume and dress
Dramatists Guild of America
Guild which advances the interests of playwrights
Educational Theatre Association
Professional Association for Theatre Education
Screen Actors Guild
Labor union representing actors in film, television, commercials, and music videos
Theatre Support Organizations Gateway
Includes organizations in United States, Canada, and Europe
University/Resident Theatre Association
Consortium of professional theatre graduate programs serving as a resource and liaison to professional theatre companies
Finding books
By subject search
Below are some links to various subject searches in the catalog. The subject search is a specific and helpful way to find materials about your area of interest. Explore these or try some of your own subject searches using the "Subject" tab in Foxtrax. For more information on "power searching" by subject, ask your reference librarian.
Theater Production and Direction
Theaters Stage-setting and scenery
By call number
If you want to browse for books in the library, use the call numbers below to find the subject areas that are of interest to you. You can use them to browse the reference section or the main stacks. The Library of Congress website may have a more detailed outline of call numbers for your subject area.
| PN1-PN110 | Literary History – Biography & Literary Criticism |
| PN110-PN1530 | Poetry – Lyric, Folk, Epic, History and Criticism |
| PN1530 | The monologue |
| PN1551 | The dialogue |
| PN1560-1590 | The performing arts. Show business |
| PN1600-3307 | Drama |
| PN1635-1650 | Relation to, and treatment of, special subjects |
| PN1660-1693 | Technique of dramatic composition |
| PN1720-1861 | History |
| PN1865-1988 | Special types |
| PN1990-1992.92 | Broadcasting |
| PN1993-1999 | Motion pictures |
| PN1997-1997.85 | Plays, scenarios, etc. |
| PN2000-3307 | Dramatic representation. The theater |
| PN2061-2071 | Art of acting |
| PN2085-2091 | The stage and accessories |
| PN2131-2193 | By period – Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern |
| PN3035 | The Jewish theater |
| PN3175-3191 | College and school theatricals |
| PN3203-3299 | Tableaux, pageants, "Happenings," etc. |
| PN3311-3503 | Prose. Prose fiction, Philosophy, theory, technique, authorship |
| PN3427-3448 | Special kinds of fiction. Fiction genres |
| PN4001-4355 | Oratory. Elocution, debate |
| PN4390-PN4500 | Diaries, letters, essays |
| PN6080-6095 | Quotations |
| PN6121-6129 | Orations |
| PN6141-PN6145 | Essays |
| PN6146-PN6231 | Humor |
Google search: Theater
This Google Custom Search engine searches quality, discipline specific web sites selected by the librarians.
