LibGuides: Theater Arts: Home

Books and Media: MIT catalog

Use the catalog to locate scripts, video of performances, criticism, and more.

Theatre Databases

International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance
Search articles, books, book chapters, reviews, and dissertations on theatre and performance. Includes some full-text articles and books.
Play Index
Covers a variety of types of plays, including one-act plays, plays in verse, radio and television plays, classic drama, and monologues from several time periods.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online
A comprehensive bibliography of Shakespeare-related scholarship and theatrical productions published or produced worldwide.

Literature Databases That Include Theatre

The resources below cover literature, although also include scholarship related to theatre.

Literature Online (LION)
Includes the Modern Language Association International Bibliography (MLAIB) and the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature(ABELL).
MLA Bibliography
References to articles in the fields of literature, drama, linguistics, folklore, and cultural studies.

Humanities Databases That Include Theatre

The resources below broadly cover the humanities, and so also include scholarship related to theatre.

Communication and Mass Media Complete
Indexes hundreds of communication and media journals with full-text for many articles.
Humanities Source
Full-text access to hundreds of journals and indexes articles, fiction, book reviews, and reviews in the humanities.
JSTOR Scholarly Journal Archive
A collection of scholarly journals in many fields. Includes deep historical coverage but current years are excluded.
Project MUSE
A collection of major journals in the humanities and social sciences. Includes many major theatre journals, including Comparative Drama, Modern Drama, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Shakespeare Quarterly, TDR: The Drama Review, and Theater, among others.
TLS, Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive
Includes reviews, articles, and letters. 1902 - 2008.

Plays in Full-Text

Asian American Drama
Collection of plays by Asian American playwrights, from late nineteenth century to the present.
Black Drama
Black Drama (3rd edition) contains the full text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.
Drama Online: Core Collection
Digital playscripts from publishers such as Methuen Drama, The Arden Shakespeare, and Faber and Faber. Coverage is from ancient times to the present day. Also includes production photos from the Victoria and Albert Museum and The American Shakespeare Center.
Drama Online: TCG Books Play Collection
Electronic versions of contemporary play scripts published by the Theatre Communications Group (TCG).
Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Contains scanned reproductions of the works of thousands of authors published prior to 1700 in all fields and genres. Overall dates of coverage: 1475-1700.
Literature Online (LION)
Contains full-text of many plays written prior to twentieth century, and some contemporary plays published in magazines and journals.
New Play Exchange
Digital library of scripts by living writers which can be filtered by title, length, age level, genre, subject matter, production history, script availability, cast size and characteristics, playwright, and playwright demographics. While the focus is currently North American, the intended scope is international.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO): British Theatre, Music, & Literature
Primary sources related to the arts in the Victorian era, from playbills and scripts to operas and complete scores. 1800s.
Women Writers Online
Contains plays written by women between 1526 and 1850. Maintained by Northeastern University.

Streaming Video

Academic Video Online (AVON)
Streaming video service with documentary, instructional, and feature films from producers such as BBC, Documentary Educational Resources (DER), Icarus, PBS, and Sony Pictures Classics.
Digital Theatre Plus
Streaming films of current leading British theater productions. Also includes some classical music performances and opera, as well as cast and director interviews.
DIS
DIS is a streaming platform for entertainment and education, enlisting leading artists and thinkers to expand the reach of rising key conversations through contemporary art, culture, activism, philosophy, and technology. Video pieces are streamed for a limited run of 30 days.
Drama Online: Asian Theatre Video Collection
Interviews, filmed performances, documentaries, rehearsal footage, and training videos.
Drama Online: The National Theatre Collection
Streaming video collection of performances from the National Theatre in London. Divided into 3 parts - links to National Theatre Collection 2 and National Theatre Collection 3 are available on the same landing page as Collection 1.
Drama Online: Shakespeare's Globe on Screen Part 1 (2008-2015) and Part 2 (2016-2018)
Recorded performances of Shakespeare's plays at the Globe Theatre in London.
Filmakers Library Online
Streaming video of documentaries from a wide range of disciplines, including dance and theatre.
Kanopy
Kanopy includes a collection of documentaries and feature films on a variety of subjects.
MIT Global Shakespeares
Online performances of Shakespeare's plays from around the globe.
OntheBoardsTV
Streaming video of contemporary theatre, dance, and performance art. Sponsored by On the Boards in Seattle. 2009 - present.
Theatre in Video
Hundreds of performances in many different genres. Also includes documentaries on playwrights and performers.

Image Collections (for costumes and scene design)

JSTOR Images
High quality images of clothing, furniture, buildings, etc from all over the world. Formerly known as ARTSTOR.
Guide to Finding Images
Many links to other sources for images.
Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion
In addition to images, provides history and background on fashion trends.
Shakespeare's Globe Archive
Documents the performance practice in the reconstructed Globe Theatre. Details how the theatre was constructed as a place of radical experiment. Documents over 200 performances through prompt books, wardrobe notes, programs, publicity, annual reports, show reports, photos and architectural plans.

Comparative Media Studies, Literature, Philosophy, and Theater Arts Librarian

Mark Szarko

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