Library & Learning Commons: Drama: Context Research

Subject and Topic Guides for the School of Drama

Reference

Reference resources like these are ideal for a very broad overview of a topic. This is a good starting place if you're investigating a playwright, type of theatre, historical time period, or place that's brand new to you.

The Browsery on the 2nd floor is the location of both the Drama Reference Collection and Script Collection, as well as many bound periodicals that are available for in library use.

CREDO Reference This link opens in a new window
A premier virtual reference collection including encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, images, audio files, and videos in a wide expanse of subject areas.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Theater and Performance This link opens in a new window
History of the theater from ancient times to contemporary, including tv and film performances. Reference material.
Theatre and Drama Premium This link opens in a new window
A database of 13,500 full-text plays, 150,000 pages of original and contextualizing ephemera from performances, 300 audio plays, and 750 hours of filmed stage performances and video by American, European, Asian, and other worldwide dramatists. This is the umbrella search for all theatre content (video, scripts, ephemera) in Alexander Street Press.

A Companion to Restoration Drama by Susan J. Owen (Editor)
ISBN: 9781118663400
Publication Date: 2013
Twenty-five essays by leading scholars in the field illustrate the vitality and diversity of dramatic work 1660 to 1710, exploring historical and cultural contexts, genres of Restoration drama, and key dramatists, among them Dryden and Behn.
A Companion to Renaissance Drama by Arthur F. Kinney (Editor)
ISBN: 9780470998922
Publication Date: 2007
Provides an expansive and inter-disciplinary approach to Renaissance plays and the world they played to. Looks at the drama in terms of its cultural agency, its collaborative nature, and its ideological complexity.
Philosophy of the Performing Arts by David Davies
ISBN: 9781444343458
Publication Date: 2011
Provides a critical overview and a comprehensive framework for thinking about the performing arts.

Books

Books and ebooks can provide a more in-depth look at a topic, place, design style, or historical moment. You can search our digital and in-library collections simultaneously by title, author, subject, or keyword via LibrarySearch. Click Advanced Search for additional search criteria (like material type, language, year, etc.).

Focal Press Theatre Books This link opens in a new window
Contains 72 practical and vocational stagecraft titles from renowned theatre studies imprint Focal Press. Through an array of guides, handbooks, toolkits, and masterclasses, this collection is an invaluable resource for those taking practical courses relating to the theatre industry, whether in front of the curtain or behind the scenes.
Critical Studies and Performance Practice Collection This link opens in a new window
This collection features 450 academic books from the prestigious Methuen Drama and The Arden Shakespeare imprints. Together they offer invaluable critical, contextual and pedagogic content from leading voices in theatre, performance and Shakespeare studies. The titles in this collection are grouped under two broad areas: Context and Criticism and Theatre Craft. The collection also includes 60 actor training videos through PATAZ: Physical Actor Training - an online A-Z.

Research Articles

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text archive of scholarly journals, particularly strong in the arts and humanities. For access, click 'Login' the top right of the JSTOR webpage, choose 'Sign in with Microsoft' and enter your UNCSA email and password.
Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window
Full-text scholarly coverage of art, architecture, design, history, music and theater. from 1970 to the present.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Access numerous literary resources in one search.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
News and scholarly articles on business, social sciences, education, science and technology, arts and humanities, health and medical, and religion.

Primary Research

Internet Broadway Database
Statistics and information collected by the Research Department at The Broadway League, intended to serve as a comprehensive history of Broadway.
Billy Rose Theatre Division Collection at the New York Public Library
Includes 150,000 digitized images from the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, including production photos, costume illustrations, scrapbooks, ephemera, stage manager's logs, director's notes, and more.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Collection This link opens in a new window
Digital access to a comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1877.
Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Full text coverage of more than 160 international performing arts periodicals, covering dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Comedies by Emma Smith (Editor)
ISBN: 9780470775783
Publication Date: 2008
Introduces students to critical writing on Shakespeare’s comedies over the last four centuries.
Shakespeare's Histories by Emma Smith (Editor)
ISBN: 9780470775769
Publication Date: 2008
Steers students through four centuries of critical writing on Shakespeare’s history plays, enhancing their enjoyment and broadening their critical repertoire.
Shakespeare's Tragedies by Emma Smith (Editor)
ISBN: 9780631220091
Publication Date: 2008
Guides students through four centuries of critical writing on Shakespeare's tragedies. Covers both significant early views and recent critical interventions.

Folger Shakespeare Library's Digital Image Collection
Digital collection includes images of books, theater memorabilia, costumes, manuscripts, art, and more content relating to Shakespeare and early modern English drama.
Folger Shakespeare Library's Digital Anthology of Early Modern Drama
Over 400 early modern English plays that were performed in London's professional theaters between 1576 and 1642.

Royal Shakespeare Company Collection This link opens in a new window
High-definition recordings of modern productions featuring great Shakespearean actors such as David Tennant, Sir Antony Sher, Paapa Essiedu, and Simon Russell Beale, and directors like Robin Lough and Dewi Humphrey. Recordings are accompanied by production images, teacher packs, and study notes to enhance student understanding of these important plays.