Get started with production history research by finding general information about the play in reference sources.
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama
Sawyer REF PN1625 .M3 1984 (5 vols)
Entries for playwrights provide a list of plays, indicating when they were written, published, and first produced. Also includes a biographical overview, a summary of general themes, plots of plays, and a bibliography of criticism.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
This encyclopedia provides authoritative information about theatre and performance from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments in London, Paris, New York, and around the globe. Also covers dance, opera, radio, film, television, and popular performance. Print edition also available Sawyer Reference PN2035 .O92 2003.
International Dictionary of Theatre
vol. 1 Plays Sawyer Reference PN2000 .I474 1992
vol. 2 Playwrights available online through Biography Resource Center
Play entries include date & location of first publication and first production; a chronological list of books and articles about the play; and a critical essay of the play. Playwright entries include a summary of the writer’s life and career; a list of works by the playwright; a list of bibliographies and critical studies about the writer; and a critical overview of the playwright’s work.
American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama
Sawyer Stacks
1869-1914, PN2256 .B6 1994
1914-1930, PN2266.3 .B67 1995
1930-1969, PN2266 .B64 1996
1969-2000, PN2277 .N5 H57 2001
Chronicles in order by opening every Broadway comedy and drama, show by show, season by season, offering plot synopses, principal players, descriptions of scenery and costumes, and comments of contemporary critics.
London Stage, 1660-1800 (5 parts, 11 vols.)
Sawyer Stacks PN2592 .L6
"A calendar of plays, entertainments & afterpieces, together with casts, box-receipts and contemporary comment." Use the index at the end of each part.
Theatre reviews focus on a specific production giving details about the general plot and evaluating actors'performances, direction, sets, costumes, etc. Search the following sources for reviews.
Dramatic Index (1909-1949)
Sawyer REF PN1601 .A55
Indexes reviews of the American and English stage.
International Index to the Performing Arts (1998-Present; some coverage 1864-1998)
Contains reviews, conference papers, essays and biographies covering dance, film, television, theater, and other topics relating to the performing arts including circus arts, mime, magic and storytelling. Use the document type limit to narrow search to performance reviews and theatre reviews.
Expanded Academic Index (1980-Present)
Multi-disciplinary index to scholarly academic and general interest periodicals.
Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) and Readers' Guide Abstracts (1983-Present )
Index to articles in popular, general interest magazines published in the United States and Canada.
New York/National Theatre Critics' Reviews (1947-1996)
Sawyer PN2000 .N76
Reprints reviews from New York area newspapers. Use the indexes for 1940-1960, 1961-1972, 1973-1986, or use the index at the beginning or end of each volume for a year to find the play you want.
Times (London) Digital Archive (1785 - 1985)
Scanned version of the London Times. Contains full content of the newspaper including advertisements, editorials, reviews, stock exchange tables, and weather reports. Does not include the Sunday edition.
Works best in Internet Explorer. Choose to search the Text field to increase results; narrow by limiting to reviews
ProQuest Historical Newspapers (US)
Searchable full-text articles and images from:
ProQuest International Newsstand
Searchable fulltext (some citations) from over 170 English and non-English Language newspapers and newswire sources worldwide. Coverage for most sources begins in the late 1990s.
ProQuest National Newspapers (Current News)
Full-text of articles from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other highly circulated US newspapers.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe - News
Provides access to full-text articles from U.S. national and regional news sources, English language newspapers and newswires from around the world.
Literature Criticism Online (1400-Present)
Scholarly and popular commentary from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books and periodicals. Organized by time the criticism was published (1400-1800, 19th century, 20th century, Contemporary) or subject (Short Story, Shakespeare, Drama). Search by author for best results.
MLA International Bibliography (1926-Present)
Index to scholarly literature for language, literature, linguistics and related areas. Published by the Modern Language Association. MLA indexes articles, book chapters, working papers and proceedings.
To find books with production histories, search FRANCIS using these strategies: