Welcome!
Resources for research in theater are found under the tabs above. If you need any type of assistance, do not hesitate to get in touch with the librarian liaison.
Library Catalogs
Either subject or keyword (word) searching can be successfully used to find relevant resources. Subject searching gives the best results when standardized Library of Congress Subject Headings are used. In general do a subject search to find particular information about theater.
Some examples follow:
Bowdoin College Library Catalog
Books, videos, government documents, etc. in Bowdoin's library.
NExpress
A combined catalog containing the library holdings of Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Wellesley,
Williams, Middlebury, and Northeastern. Requests take 2-3 days.
MaineCat
Includes the holdings of most Maine libraries. Requests take 2-5 days
WorldCat
A combined database of many library catalogs worldwide. Request items found in WorldCat through our Interlibrary Loan service.
Core Databases
- Annual Magazine Subject Index/Dramati... [about]
Annual Magazine Subject Index/Dramatic Index
Coverage Dates: 1908 - 1949
Format: Print
« Hide Description - Arts and Humanities Citation Index [about]
Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Coverage Dates: 1980 - Present
Format: Online
includes list of cited references
« Hide Description - MLA International Bibliography [about]
MLA International Bibliography
Coverage Dates: 1888 - Present
Format: Online
Coverage includes journal articles series, monographs, dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings and other materials.
« Hide Description - Play Index [about]
Play Index
Coverage Dates: -
Format: Online
Find citations to plays written from Antiquity to the present and published from 1949 to the present.
« Hide Description
Reference Sources
Cambridge Guide to American Theater
Ref PN2221 C36 1996
Cassell Companion to the Theatre
Ref PN2035 B74 1997
Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
Ref PN2035 C63 1992
MCGraw Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama
Ref PN1625 M3 1984 5 vols.
Modern Drama: Scholarship & Criticism, 1981-1990, an international bibliography
Ref Z5781 C37 1997
World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre
Ref PN1861 W67 1994 3 vols.
Actor's Guide to the Internet
PN2071 C58 K69 2000
Plays/Scripts
To locate a play in the collection at Bowdoin try the following:
- Type in the title of the play under "title search"
- Type words of the title under "word search"
- See new plays by searching the catalog for the subject ‘Play script”; choose "limit"; select "year of publication".
- Browse major parts of the drama and play collection online or shelves by call number:
PN 1600-3307 Drama
PN 1997 Screen Plays
PQ 1-9999 French, Italian, & Spanish Plays
PR 1-9680 British Plays
PS 1-3576 American Plays
PT 1-4897 German Plays
Video Recordings
To locate video recordings about Theater, search the subject "Theater" and limit to material type "videorecording". Example:
Periodicals Owned by Bowdoin
To see a list of theater periodicals owned by Bowdoin, search by subject. Example:
Web Sites
General Theater Sites
Brief Guide for Theatre and Performance Studies
http://www.stetson.edu/departments/csata/thr_guid.html
Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies. An excellent list of academically oriented internet sites from Stetson University.
Theatre and drama WWW Virtual Library
http://vl-theatre.com/
A major feature of this site is its listing of plays online arranged by author with complete texts in English, French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish.
Performing Arts Online
http://performingarts.net/index.html
Includes artists and companies in theater, dance and music.
American Theater Web
http://www.americantheaterweb.com
Provides access to theater life and theater production in all regions of the United States. Includes internships. A complete source.
American Variety Stage
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vshome.html
"The collection illustrates the vibrant and diverse forms of popular entertainment, especially vaudeville, thatthrived from 1870-1920. Included are 334 English and Yiddish language playscripts, 146 theater playbills and programs, 61 motion pictures..."
Playbill Online
http://www.playbill.com/index.php
Find current Broadway, off-Broadway, regional, and London Theatre information on this Playbill web site. Also includes ticket information and current theater news.
Internet Broadway Database
http://www.ibdb.com
"...the official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today. Details include pertinent people involved as well as interesting facts and production statistics."
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
http://www.dramatists.com/
"Dramatists Play Service has published new plays since 1936 and is now one of the preeminenttheatrical licensing agencies..."
The Lortel Archives, also known as www.IOBDB.com (Internet Off-Broadway Database)
http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/
A catalogue of shows produced Off-Broadway.
New England Theater
Theater Mirror
http://www.theatermirror.com
Theater Mirror is New England's live theater guide with extensive coverage of the Boston area. Lists jobs and auditions.
Didaskalia
http://didaskalia.open.ac.uk
Didaskalia, meaning "teach", is an introductory and jumping off point for information on classic theater.
Plays - Full Text
Shakespeare
http://www-tech.mit.edu/shakespeare/works.html
Complete works of Shakespeare from MIT.
Theatrales
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/c2545/theatral.html
Provided by the University of Quebec, Montreal, this site includes links to French drama texts, mostly in French.
Playwriting/Playwrights
Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing!
http://www.storyispromise.com/
Offers a number of essays on the craft of dramatic writing. It offers step by step instruction in how to write dramatic stories from many perspectives that include screenwriting and playwriting.
Costumes
The Costume Site
http://milieux.com/costume/
Excellent source for all types of costumes including historical fashions, patterns and masks.
The Costume page
http://users.aol.com/nebula5/costume.html
Costumes, ethnic and regional clothing, costume museum exhibits - all are accessible in this extensive and frequently updated index of online resources for those who make and/or study costumes.
The Costumer's Manifesto
http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/costhistpage.htm
Contains many images and a timeline of the history of costumes beginning with ancient Babylon and continuing through the late twentieth century.
Theater Reviews
Aisle Say
http://www.aislesay.com/
This excellent theater review source covers productions from New York City to San Francisco and is updated weekly.
Theater Awards
The Obie Awards
http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/
This Village Voice site contains the winners of the Obie Awards for the past 40 years.
Theater Library Collections
NYPL Theatre Collection
http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/the/the.html
The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Yale Drama Library
http://www.library.yale.edu/drama/
The Yale Drama Library site has many good links.
Theater Design
The International Theatre Design Archive
http://www.siue.edu/ITDA/
This site is geared toward students and young designers. It is broken down my scene designs, costume designs and lighting designs.
The Development of Scenic Spectacle
http://www1.appstate.edu/orgs/spectacle/index.html
Technical and historical information on sets for sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century theater.