LibGuides: Theatre: Key Resources

Where to Start

The sources on this page are good starting points for your research about theatre topics. Reference Sources are great for topic ideas, background information, definitions, and other ways to kick off your research. Databases are where you can find eBooks and popular and scholarly journal articles with in-depth analysis of particular artists, works, or movements.

Theatre Reference Sources

Important Reference Sources to help you start your research.

The Encyclopedia of World Theater
R 792.03 Es7
Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
eBook
The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre
ebook
Cambridge guide to American Theater
R 792.0973 C14
Famous Actors and Actresses on the American Stage
R 792 Yo8 vols. 1-2
Stage it with music : an encyclopedic guide to the American musical theatre
R 792.60973 H62
Theatrical designers : an international biographical dictionary
R 792.025 M58
Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, 2013
eBook
The Oxford companion to the theatre
R 792 H25o1
Theatre backstage from A to Z
R 792.0253 L93
Who was in the theatre, 1912-1976 : biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, directors, playwrights, and producers of the English-speaking theatre
R 792.028 W62 vols. 1-4
A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers & other stage personnel in London, 1660-1800
927.92 H53 Vols. 1-10

Helpful Keywords

Below are helpful keyword searches to use with our library resources:

Acting
Names of actors
Stagecraft
Lighting
Makeup
Costume (Costume Design, etc.)
Playwright
Names of playwrights (Brecht, Chekhov, Ibsen, Shakespeare, Shaw, etc.)
Music
Sound design in theatre
Set design
Drama
Theatre production
Names of producers
Directing
Names of directors

Recommended Resource: Credo Reference

Credo is an online reference database that includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, biographies and more.

Oxford Reference

Gale Reference Search

Gale Reference is an award-winning electronic collection of quality reference sources.

Theatre Article Databases

Arts and Humanities Full Text
A full-text databases featuring hundreds of journal titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies.
Art and Architecture Complete
Database with full-text and images covering wide variety of topics, including antiques, art and art history, interior and landscape design and much more.
ProQuest Arts
Search across a collection of databases with information on the fine and performing arts, including art, design, theater and music.
Gale Literary Sources
A comprehensive and current literary collection providing full-text articles from scholarly journals and literary magazines, along with critical essays, work and topic overviews, full-text works, biographies, and more.
ProQuest Screen Studies Collection
A comprehensive survey of current publications related to film scholarship, along with detailed and expansive filmographies. Includes the specialist index FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute and the British Film Institute; AFI Catalog and Film Index International.
International Index to Performing Arts Full Text (IIPA)
Covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.
Humanities International Complete
A comprehensive database of humanities content, providing full text of hundreds of journals, books, and other published sources from around the world.
JSTOR
JSTOR provides full text online access to important scholarly journal literature in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics and other humanities and social sciences disciplines.
ProQuest Central
This database serves as a central resource for researchers at all levels. Covering more than 160 subject areas, ProQuest Central is the largest aggregated database of periodical content, including scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, books, newspapers, reports and videos.
Academic Search Premier
A comprehensive multi-disciplinary full-text database with both scholarly and popular periodicals.

More Theatre Databases-Where to continue your research

Arts & Humanities Citation Index via Web of Science
Part of the Web of Science, the Arts & Humanities Citation Index is a multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities.
Art Bibliographies Modern
A specialized bibliography available for study of modern and contemporary art. Covers all art forms, including fine art, digital art, crafts, design and photography.
Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)
The world's most comprehensive bibliography of scholarly writing about the history of western art.
International Bibliography of Art (IBA)
The definitive resource for scholarly literature on Western art, IBA is the successor to the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA).
ProQuest Research Library
Provides one-stop access to a broad, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, and magazines covering over 150 academic disciplines.
Films on Demand Video Collection
Thousands of high quality videos on business & economics, health & medicine, humanities & social sciences, and science & mathematics, as well as travel and fitness programming, home and how-to videos, indie films, and popular music performances. Includes Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winning documentaries, interviews, instructional and vocational training videos, historical speeches and newsreels.
America: History and Life
An index to journal articles, books, book chapters, media reviews, and dissertations covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Biography Reference Center
A comprehensive collection of full-text biographies, including actors, artists, authors, current world leaders, explorers, religious leaders and many more.

New Reference Resource

The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama by Gabrielle H. Cody (Editor); Evert Sprinchorn (Editor)
Call Number: R 809.2 C723
ISBN: 0231140320
Publication Date: 2007-07-03

Subject Guide

Amanda Sullivan

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