LibGuides: Theatre: Articles & Databases

Databases

Playscripts

The library QuickSearch includes links to the individual plays in most of these collections, so if you are looking for a specific play, search there first. See the Plays and Monologues tab on the left for some strategies to browse playscripts in the UNLV Libraries book stacks.

Asian American Drama
Plays by Asian-American playwrights along with biographical, production and theatrical information.
Black Drama
Over 1200 plays by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.
Some 440 of the plays are published here for the first time, including a number by major authors.
Drama Online
Good for: Reading play scripts and scholarly books analyzing drama.
Contains: Scripts for over 1000 plays, from Aeschylus to the present day, including modern classics from Tom Stoppard, David Mamet, Caryl Churchill and many more.
Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship and the Stage
Good for: Examining scripts of plays submitted for license in England before 1824.
Contains: Archive of plays, diaries, playbills, theatre records, and correspondence.
Dates covered: 1737-1824.
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction
1872-
Novels, short stories and poems, and plays written by Americans of Spanish or Latin American heritage.
Latino Literature brings together more than 100,000 pages of poetry, fiction, and drama written in English and Spanish by hundreds of Chicano, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and other Latin authors working in the United States. Among the gems of the collection are nearly 800 items (poems, novels, and plays) that have never been published before. Researchers will also find numerous Chicano folk tales and audio files of selected poems and plays. It currently contains over 106,000 pages of poetry.
ProQuest One Literature
Poetry, drama and prose; also literature criticism journals, ebooks, and key reference resources.
New Oxford Shakespeare Online
A new edition of Shakespeare's plays with both modern spelling editions for reading or performing and a critical reference edition with original spelling for literary research.
The authorship companion provides essays about methods and case studies illustrating Shakespeare's collaborations with other authors.
North American Women's Drama
1770-present
Plays written by women in the United States and Canada.
Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. Almost a quarter of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays. Plays are also included in North American Theatre Online.
Twentieth Century Drama
1900-2000
Full text scripts of plays.
Authors from Britain and Ireland, North America, India, Africa, Australia and the Caribbean, indexed by subject and keyword-searchable. Strengths of this collection include Irish drama, off-Broadway and alternative theatre, political plays, and global and postcolonial theatre. The "Find Monologue" feature helps actors find good audition pieces. Also searchable from within LION.
Twentieth Century North American Drama
1900-2000
Plays from the United States and Canada.
Update frequency: quarterly
In addition to providing a comprehensive full-text resource for students in the performing arts, the collection offers a unique window into the economic, historical, social, and political psyche of two countries. Plays are also included in North American Theatre Online.

Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship and the Stage
Good for: Examining scripts of plays submitted for license in England before 1824.
Contains: Archive of plays, diaries, playbills, theatre records, and correspondence.
Dates covered: 1737-1824.
The Nineteenth Century Stage: Industry, Performance and Celebrity
Good for: Theatre history research examining firsthand evidence of 19th century stage productions
Contains: Prompt books, playbills, photos, and theatre company records, plus biographical and thematic essays
Dates covered: Late 1600s-1960s
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
Good for: Studying the music, film, broadcasting, and theater industries.
Contains: Trade publications including Variety, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter.
Dates covered: 1880-2015.
Music, film, broadcasting and theater industry trade publications published before 2015 including Variety, Billboard, Spin, The Hollywood Reporter, American Cinematographer, American Film, Picturegoer and more.
Theatre in Context
Reference texts in American theater, as well as images of posters, playbills, photos, architectural images, floor plans, and other ephemera.
Update frequency: quarterly
Performance Design Archive Online
Books and periodicals, archival material, and specially commissioned instructional videos about design concepts for a broad range of performance types, including dance, theatre, opera, and music.
Performance Design Archive Online is the first comprehensive, international collection that covers all aspects of theater production design, from the 17th century through to the present day, including, scenic and set design, lighting design, sound design, costume design, makeup, and more.
Shakespeare's Globe Archive: Theatres, Players & Performance
1997-2016
Material from the performance and architectural archives of the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare’s 1599 Globe Theatre.
The performance archive shows how productions at the reconstructed Globe and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse were conceived, rehearsed, dressed, marketed, sound tracked, how props were used, how the audiences behaved and the theatre history and performance lessons that were observed and learned. The architectural archive contains material on how the reconstruction of the theatre was designed and planned and some of the conversations and debates that informed construction decisions. In addition, there is also material on the theatre’s annual reports, communications to its supporters and oral histories detailing some of the early history of the reconstructed theatre.
Shakespeare in Performance
Prompt books from the Folger Shakespeare Library for performances of Shakespeare's plays between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
Includes digital reproductions of the Folger Library's prompt book collection, predominantly from British and American performances from the late 17th century to 1970. Also includes supporting materials (ephemera, photographs, correspondence, etc.) for 17 selected plays.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online
1966-
Annotated citations of scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare.
Books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, information about theatrical productions, reviews of productions, audiovisual materials, and electronic media

MLA International Bibliography with Full Text
1926-
Literary criticism published in journal articles, book chapters, books and more. Video tutorial for MLAIB
Film & Television Literature Index
Good for: Searching articles that analyze film, television and aspects of popular culture.
Contains: Articles published in scholarly journals and popular magazines.
Gale Literature
Good for: Finding literary criticism.
Contains: Scholarly articles, overviews, and literary reference works.
ProQuest One Literature
Poetry, drama and prose; also literature criticism journals, ebooks, and key reference resources.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online
1966-
Annotated citations of scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare.
Books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, information about theatrical productions, reviews of productions, audiovisual materials, and electronic media

Academic Search Premier
Searchable articles from academic and professional journals and magazines covering every academic discipline.
Update frequency: Updated daily
This excellent one-stop resource lets you search citations and summaries by keyword and then instantly retrieve the full text of articles from journals online. The Get Text button helps you locate any article without linked full text in alternate online sources or in UNLV's print journal collection.
JSTOR
An archive of more than 700 important scholarly journals covering business, ecology, education, ethnic studies, history, literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, and sociology with content ending 3-5 years ago
JSTOR digitally archives more than 700 scholarly journals. Subjects include African-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, business, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, and more.
Project MUSE
1995-
Scholarly journals in the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others.
Update frequency: monthly
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
1975-
A&HCI provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information and cited references found in nearly 1,130 of the world's leading arts & humanities journals.
Update frequency: Updated weekly
Use this tool to identify how often a particular author has been cited in the work of peers or to identify the most influential scholarship on a topic.
Periodicals Archive Online (PAO)
1802-1995
Journal articles in the humanities and social sciences published between 1802-1995
Update frequency: quarterly
Search international scholarly literature in the humanities and social sciences disciplines from 1802 to 1995. PAO includes pre-1995 issues of over 400 journals, including many journals published in languages other than English.
American Periodicals Series
1740-1940
Magazines and journals published in the U.S. mostly before 1900.
Google Scholar
Searches scholarly journal articles. Set preferences to UNLV for full text access!
Google Scholar searches for scholarly materials such as peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and reports from many academic and technical fields. It is freely available to anyone searching the Internet; however, many of the links that lead to full text resources are not. On your first visit, go to Google Scholar Preferences and use the Library Links box to set UNLV as your source for no-fee access to many full text articles. For answers to questions about Google Scholar, check out the FAQ.

Newspaper databases are a great resource for finding reviews of specific performances. Consider including the following: work title; playwright or performer; critic's name. Also, use quotation marks to keep titles and names together.

Example: "The Children's Hour" AND "Lillian Hellman"

Access World News: Research Collection
Newspaper articles from 7,400 + sources, including 50 Nevada titles.
Local, in-state, national and international news sources, including newspapers, broadcast transcripts, newswires, news blogs, news web-only content and video.
America's Historical Newspapers
1690-1923
Historical newspapers from every state in the U.S.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
Good for: Studying the music, film, broadcasting, and theater industries.
Contains: Trade publications including Variety, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter.
Dates covered: 1880-2015.
Music, film, broadcasting and theater industry trade publications published before 2015 including Variety, Billboard, Spin, The Hollywood Reporter, American Cinematographer, American Film, Picturegoer and more.
Historical U.S. Newspapers from ProQuest
1841-2000 with some more recent
Search all ProQuest U.S. historical newspaper collections simultaneously.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender‎ (1909 - 1975)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune‎ (1849 - 1993)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Christian Science Monitor‎ (1908 - 2003)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times‎ (1881 - 1993)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times‎ (1851 - 2013)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune‎ (1841 - 1922)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post‎ (1877 - 2000)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: U.S. West, including Reno Gazette-Journal (1876-2008), San Francisco Examiner (1889-2007), and Spokane Statesman-Review (1894-2009)
Los Angeles Times, 1996 - current
1996-
Major daily newspaper from Los Angeles. Click on the publications link above the search box and then select "Los Angeles Times" to search only this publication.
With the nation's largest editorial department, it offers extensive coverage of national, international, and local news.
Newspaper Source Plus
Regional newspapers and broadcast television transcripts.
Newspaper Source provides full text coverage for 40 national and international newspapers including USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, The Times (London), and The Toronto Star. Selected full text is offered from more than 330 regional newspapers including The Buffalo News, Orange County Register, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Full text transcripts are available from CBS News, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, National Public Radio, and more.
Nexis Uni
Searchable published news, legal, medical and business information.
The news section delivers the full text of international, national and regional newspapers along with wire services, broadcast transcripts, magazines, and non-English language sources. The legal section contains U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews and international legal information. This includes Shepard's Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789. The medical section supplies information from news and medical journals, and provides abstracts to medical news from Medline. The business section includes business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news.
Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019
1785-2019
The Times (London) newspaper.
US Newsstream
1980s-
Searchable current and recent articles from newspapers, including Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Full text of articles from major national newspapers: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, USA Today. Also included are the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, and the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Readex AllSearch
1639-1922
Combined search of American historical newspapers (1690-1922), printed books (1639-1819), and pamphlets and ephemera (1749-1922).
Search all collections of historical primary sources from Readex simultaneously: America's Historical Newspapers, American Broadsides and Ephemera; American Pamphlets; Early American Imprints (Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker).

Print collections of theatre criticism

New York theatre critics' reviews
later National TCR, 1968-1996, print
Odell's Annals of the New York Stage, print
also second copy held in LASR
New York Times Theater Reviews, 1870-2000
Print set reprinting NYT reviews - useful to get overview of a season
National theater critics reviews
shelved in Oversize PN2000 .N76

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: British Theatre, Music, and Literature
Good for: Finding primary sources related to entertainment in the Victorian era in Great Britain, including music, theatre, and popular literature.
Contains: Books, popular magazines, playscripts, playbills, scores
Dates covered: 1800-1900
American Broadsides and Ephemera
1749-1900
Printed menus, advertisements, cards, playbills, poems and other printed items never intended to last.
Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship and the Stage
Good for: Examining scripts of plays submitted for license in England before 1824.
Contains: Archive of plays, diaries, playbills, theatre records, and correspondence.
Dates covered: 1737-1824.
Gale Primary Sources
Good for: Searching across British and American historical primary source collections, including newspapers, periodicals, and archival collections spanning the 18th-20th centuries.
Includes 19th Century UK Periodicals, Archives of Sexuality & Gender (LGBTQ History), British Library Newspapers, The Economist (1843-2014), Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, Sabin Americana (1500-1926), China and the Modern World, London Times Digital Archive, and London Times Literary Supplement.
Theatre in Context
Reference texts in American theater, as well as images of posters, playbills, photos, architectural images, floor plans, and other ephemera.
Update frequency: quarterly
Performance Design Archive Online
Books and periodicals, archival material, and specially commissioned instructional videos about design concepts for a broad range of performance types, including dance, theatre, opera, and music.
Performance Design Archive Online is the first comprehensive, international collection that covers all aspects of theater production design, from the 17th century through to the present day, including, scenic and set design, lighting design, sound design, costume design, makeup, and more.
Shakespeare's Globe Archive: Theatres, Players & Performance
1997-2016
Material from the performance and architectural archives of the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare’s 1599 Globe Theatre.
The performance archive shows how productions at the reconstructed Globe and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse were conceived, rehearsed, dressed, marketed, sound tracked, how props were used, how the audiences behaved and the theatre history and performance lessons that were observed and learned. The architectural archive contains material on how the reconstruction of the theatre was designed and planned and some of the conversations and debates that informed construction decisions. In addition, there is also material on the theatre’s annual reports, communications to its supporters and oral histories detailing some of the early history of the reconstructed theatre.
Shakespeare in Performance
Prompt books from the Folger Shakespeare Library for performances of Shakespeare's plays between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
Includes digital reproductions of the Folger Library's prompt book collection, predominantly from British and American performances from the late 17th century to 1970. Also includes supporting materials (ephemera, photographs, correspondence, etc.) for 17 selected plays.
Victorian Popular Culture
Good for: Finding primary sources related to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe.
Contains: Books, posters, scrapbooks, and optical toys.
Dates covered: 1779-1930.

All historical primary source databases

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