Research Guides: *Theater*: Research Resources

Recommended Research Tools

Digital Theatre Plus
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A database with access to 900+ resources including backstage insights, practitioner interviews, written analysis and 400+ captured theatre productions.

Drama Online's National Theatre Collection 1
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Drawing on 10 years of National Theatre Live broadcasts, alongside high-quality archival recordings never previously seen outside of the NT's Archive, the National Theatre Collection 1 offers 30 filmed performances.

Drama Online's National Theatre Collection
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Watch high-quality recordings of theater productions including Angels in America, Three Sisters, and Macbeth.
National Theatre Collection, Volume I
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Features 30 high-definition video performances covering a wide range of works regularly studied in secondary and higher education. As a supplement to the filmed productions, exclusive digitized archival materials such as prompt scripts, costume designs, and costume bibles are available to provide behind-the-scenes background and contextual information.
ProQuest Performing Arts Database‎
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This database, formerly known as "International Index to the Performing Arts" provides abstracts and full-text to journal articles. Covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry including dance, film, television, theater, opera, and broadcasting. Covers 1864-present.
MLA International Bibliography
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Database of scholarly books and articles related to literature, language, linguistics, film, theater and folklore. Includes scholarship from 1926 to the present.

Encyclopedias and Bibliographies

Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance
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This Oxford Companion is based on the celebrated Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, and covers styles and movements, organizations, regions and traditions. It has 2,400 entries. The timeline of historical and cultural events in the world of theatre and performance has been significantly updated, along with the extensive bibliography.
Bibliograpy from the Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance
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Includes sections on: 1. Reference Works and Theatre Histories 2. Theoretical and General Works 3. Ancient Europe 4. Medieval Europe 5. Europe 1500–1700 6. Europe 1700–1900 7. Europe since 1900 8. Russia and the Soviet Union 9. Africa 10. South Asia 11. South-East Asia 12. East Asia 13. North America 14. Latin America and the Caribbean 15. Principal Journals
Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
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Provides authoritative and information about theatre and performance from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments in London, Paris, New York, and around the globe. In addition to performances in playhouses, it covers dance, opera, radio, film, television, and popular performance, including carnivals, circus, and public executions. Entries range from short definitions of terms to lengthy considerations of genres and movements, such as feminism and psychoanalytic criticism. Entries on cities and regions place performance in its local social and political context.

Additional Resources

DAAI: Design and Applied Arts Index
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International index covering all areas of design and craft. Includes data on over 40,000 designers, studios, workshops, firms etc. Also included are 4 supplementary directories on education, organizations, archives and periodicals.
ProQuest Arts and Humanities Database
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This ProQuest full-text journal database, formerly known as "ProQuest Arts and Humanities Full Text" has been created to complement the CSA Illumina portfolio of Arts and Humanities databases. Subscribers to any of these databases - including ARTBibliographies Modern, Design and Applied Arts Index, British Humanities Index, MLA International Bibliography and Philosopher's Index amongst others - can link directly from citations in these indexes to the corresponding full-text articles. The contents reflect the full interdisciplinarity of contemporary study in the arts and humanities, with the inclusion of selected titles from related fields that are also covered by these indexes, such as ethnic and area studies, politics, economics and women's studies.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
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Citations to more than 1,300 arts and humanities journals and to relevant articles on arts and humanities in over 5,800 social science and science journals. Records include articles, bibliographies, editorials and reviews. Covers 1980-present.
JSTOR
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Provides full-text and page images from many of the top journals in most academic disciplines. Coverage is from the inception of the journal through three to five years ago.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online
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Provides annotated entries for all important books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical productions, production reviews, audiovisual materials, electronic media and other scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare. Covers works published or produced between 1963 to the present.
WorldCat
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A catalog of the holdings of books, journals, and other materials held by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) member libraries. Includes manuscripts, maps, films and sound recordings. Covers works published before 1,000 BC-present.