Theater 362: Directing II

Winter 2007, Professor Martinez

Research guide prepared by Professor Merrill

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Who do I contact to get permission to produce my chosen play and what will the royalties cost?

Samuel French, Inc.

Dramatist Play Service

Broadway Play Publishing

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Where was my chosen play first performed and what is its perfomance history?

This information might be included in the playscript itself. If not, check the following databases:

LexisNexis Academic

Massive full-text database, including news, business, political, and biomedical coverage. Contains over 1 billion documents from over 18,000 resources, primarily newspapers, general-interest magazines, and trade publications, along with an extensive collection of legal publications. More Details

Historical New York Times

The historical New York Times offers full page and article images from 1851 to 2001, with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. More Details

Historical Washington Post

The historical Washington Post offers full page and article images from 1877 to 1988 with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. More Details

Web Search Engines

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What other play(s) has the playwright written and where can I get copies?

WorldCat

A database consisting of the records of hundreds of library catalogs. WorldCat includes records and location information for about one billion books, theses and dissertations, video and sound recordings, and other materials. (Multiple records may exist for any one item.) More Details

Copies can be ordered from the bookstore or borrowed from our Interlibrary Loan service.

Web Search Engines

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Are there any critical reviews of my chosen play and the playwright?

Literature Resource Center (LRC)

Contains extensive biographical and critical information on writers, movements, and works from virtually all time periods. Includes all of the print volumes of Contemporary Authors. More Details

MLA (Modern Language Association) International Bibliography

An international index to scholarly materials on modern language, literature, drama, linguistics, and folklore. Materials covered include journal articles, series, monographs, and conference papers. Coverage extends back to 1963. This database identifies refereed journal articles, and is updated ten times a year. It contains links to full text articles wherever possible. More Details

Lexis/Nexis. More Details and Connect

Historical New York Times. More Details and Connect

Historical Washington Post. More Details and Connect

Web Search Engines

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What has my playwright written about her/himself and her/his plays?

Arts and Humanities Search. More Details and Connect

WorldCat. More Details and Connect

LexisNexis (interviews, etc). More Details and Connect

Historical New York Times (interviews, etc). More Details and Connect

Historical Washington Post. More Details and Connect

Web Search Engines

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Are there any critical or dramaturgical studies written about my playwright or his/her plays?

Annie Catalog

WorldCat. More Details and Connect

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How do I contact my playwright directly; in case I want to aks a question or write to her/him?

Literature Resource Center (LRC)

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FINDING ONE-ACT PLAYS

Annie or WorldCat:

Keyword: "One-Act Plays" --> leads to individual play titles and play collections
Subject:   "One-Act Plays" --> leads to subject headings (categories), i.e. "One-act plays - American"

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FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES Note: Consider both spellings of the word THEATER / THEATRE. Always search both. Humanities Research Guide. Links to Annie, WorldCat, and periodical indexes in the humanities THEATER STUDIES WEB DIRECTORIES WWW Virtual Library for Theatre and Drama . For professionals, amateurs, academics, and students. Updated daily. Yale University's Theater Web Directories . Excellent site with many high quality links.  Rhodes College Theatre Resources Dramatists Play Service . The DPS Playfinder is especially handy for identifying and purchasing specific plays.  International Theatre Design Archive . Excellent site archiving scenic, costume, and lighting designs from productions nationwide. Sponsored by the US Institute for Theatre Technology. McCoy's Guide to Theatre and Performance Studies Theatre History on the Web . From the University of Washington. Maintained by Jack Wolcott. TheatreHistory.com . Organized by country, this site offers loads of information. Theatre History Links . From Artslynx. Excellent resource. Artslynx International Theatre Resources .  Lots of links to many excellent sites..  London Theatre Guide Broadway.com The Costume Page . Excellent, non-commercial site. Intuitions College Theatre Guide --guide maintained by college students at UPenn Encyclopedia Britannica . This online encyclopedia has extensive articles on theater (British and American mostly). REFERENCE BOOKS In the Reference Room of Leyburn Library, under call numbers PR600s and PR700s, you will find excellent books with information on plays, playwrights, and theatre history. Such as Drama Criticism, World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre, Play Index, Dramatic Criticism, Theatre World (journal). Online Reference Books: The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion