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Guide to Theater Arts Research

A guide to support you as you begin your research for your theater arts course.

Start Finding Sources with OneSearch

OneSearch is a broad search across many different subjects, databases, and resources. If you are not finding what you are looking for here, use the box below to hone in on subject-specific resources.

Advanced Search

 

stick figure with question mark over headNot sure which type of source to start with or what to do to search?! Check out the tabs below to search for tips on searching or specific types of information. For more help on how to search, visit the Search Effectively page.

These sources fall into two broad categories for Theatre & Performance Studies researchers:

  • Plays, Scripts, and Collections of Monologues or Scenespile of books
  • Scholarly Works, including:
    • Playwright biographies
    • Theater history
    • Studies of dramaturgy 
    • Production histories
    • Reference sources 

Where to Find Books, Scripts, and Monologues:

  • LPC Library's Online Catalog 
    Find print and ebooks here on a variety of topics, including monologues and scripts. Search by author, title, or keyword under the book tab on our homepage. Or use the search box at the top of this page.

Online Scripts and Monologues:

  • Drama Online (Use Firefox for best results!) 
    Use the "find monologues" or "find plays" links to search by gender, number of characters, etc.

 

Literary Criticism:Pile of books with eye glasses

  • Literature Resource Center: Includes literary criticism, explication, and biographies. Information about writers, including playwrights.

  • Blooms Literature: Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature, including drama. 

Encyclopedia Articles:

  • Credo Reference: Articles from subject-specific encyclopedias. Credo brings the facts alive with images, videos, and much more.

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Subjects covered: arts, environment, general reference, history, law, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, nation and world, religion, science, and social science.

stack of journals

Scholarly Journal Articles (Peer-reviewed Articles) & Newspaper or Magazine Articles
 

Why You Should Use Them:

  • Information in Scholarly journal articles is based on research and expertise.

  • Scholarly journal articles add to a growing understanding of a topic by contributing new ideas.

  • Newspaper and magazine articles help you find reviews, popular opinion, and information on a certain topic that is geared for the general public. 

Find Articles:

 

Images, Video, & Music

Images, performance recordings, and interviews with actors and production members are great resources for theater and performance studies. These are available through several databases and streaming platforms in the library's database collection.

Why you should use them:

  • Get first-person accounts from cast members, directors, playwrights
  • Compare different production interpretations
  • Study choreography, set design, lighting, and thematic elements up-close
  • Use historical photographs for design inspiration. 
  • See behind-the-scenes footage

Images:

  • Artstor 
    A digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with a suite of software tools to view, present, and manage images available for research and academic purposes. Collections consist of contributions from museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists/artists' estates​

Film and Video:

Watch and listen to plays and performances. *Please note that Drama Online includes some collections on their website that LPC does not subscribe to.