By finding biographical information about playwrights, you will have a better understanding of their personal background, what themes inspire them, and how the world around them has shaped their work. Try the following resources:
Biography Resource Center (1960-Present)
Great starting point for finding brief biographical information and list of works. Provides biographies from reference books as well as magazine articles and web sites. Includes Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Dramatists, Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, and International Dictionary of Theatre, Volume 2: Playwrights
Biography Index (1984-Present)
An index to biographical information appearing in magazine and journal articles, including speeches and interviews. Also available in print covering 1946-1984, Sawyer Reference CT100 .B562.
For longer biographies, search FRANCIS for the playwright as a subject.
To find articles by and about your playwright, search:
Expanded Academic Index (1980-Present)
A good multidisciplinary database with popular and scholarly articles
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.
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.
For additional biographical sources see How to Find Biographies