Research Guides: Theatre Arts: General Theatre Resources

How to Use This Research Guide

This guide provides instruction and links for various resources related to the Theatre Arts provided to student by the Chester Fritz Library:

Tips on finding plays either through the library catalog or select databases
Library locations for theatre related literature
Musical Theatre and Drama Education DVDs
Best bet databases for theatre arts research

General Theatre Resources

Encyclopedias, Reference, and Handbooks

Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Reference Manuals

Encyclopedias and reference manuals help you get started on your research. Here you can find general background information, definitions, and history on many art and design and concepts. Also use to find a topic for a paper or project.

Online Encyclopedias

Search Credo Reference
Searches over 800 online reference books, including ones for performing arts.

Grove Art Online/Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Search for definitions, biographies, themes, time periods in Art History. Only 5 LIMIT 5 SIMULTANEOUS USERS.
Grove Music Online/Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Search for definitions, biographies, themes, time periods in Music. LIMIT 3 SIMULTANEOUS USERS.
Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Gale Literature – cross-search platform to simultaneously search through Dictionary of Literary Biography, Literature Criticism (Contemporary Literature Criticism and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism), Something About the Author, Contemporary Authors and other literary Gale eBook titles.
Gale Literature Criticism This link opens in a new window
Gale Literature Criticism – a reference tool that offers over 1,000 discovery portals for browsing Gale literature titles, beyond what is owned by the library. Includes articles, suggested reading lists, bibliographies and other avenues for research.

Print Encyclopedias

The Oxford companion to American theatre
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks (PN2220 .B6 2004)

Historical

Brill's New Pauly
Call Number: CFL Floor 1 Collection Overflow (DE5 .N3513 2002 )
Classical Greece and Rome
Encyclopedia of Tudor England
Call Number: CFL Floor 4 Book Stacks (DA315 .E65 2012 )
Other historical eras have their own encyclopedias in this section.

American Decades Series
Salem Press online references from 1920s to the 1990s.

Biographies

Current Biography
Call Number: Reference CT100 .C8
Profiles of movers and shakers, 1940 to 2017

Literary

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
A historical dictionary documenting the evolution of the English Language.

Literature (Salem Press)
Salem Press reference works that includes Critical Insights and Critical Surveys in Literature

Handbooks

Dramaturgy: a revolution in theatre
Call Number: Floor 3 Book Stacks: PN2053 .L75 2006
Censorship of the American theatre in the 20th century
Call Number: Floor 3 Book Stacks: PN2044.U62 H68 2003