by Chao Chen, Research Librarian chao.chen@tufts.edu | 617.627.2057 | Home Tisch Library, Tufts University
Research Sources for Graduate Students in Drama
1. Here are some sample materials in the Tisch collections:
The London Stage, 1660-1800; a Calendar of Plays, Entertainments & Afterpieces, Together with Casts, Box-Receipts and Contemporary Comment. Compiled from the Playbills, Newspapers and Theatrical Diaries of the Period.
Strange Feats & Clever Turns: Remarkable Speciality Acts in Variety Vaudeville and Sideshows at the Turn of the 20th Century as Seen by Their Contemporaries / complied by Charlie Holand.
Edwin C. Bolles Collection (Tisch Special Collections [Bolles]) (The collection includes many rare books, maps and prints.)
2. Search the Catalog with the keyword "sources" for primary sources at Tisch:
Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources. Theater and England and Sources and 18th Theater -- France -- History -- Sources. Theater -- Germany -- History -- Sources. Theater and Germany and Sources and 18th
Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Theater and England and Sources and 18th
Theater -- France -- History -- Sources.
Theater -- Germany -- History -- Sources.
Theater and Germany and Sources and 18th
Sample Titles:
A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. / edited and introduced by Christopher Innes. "This sourcebook contains a wide variety of different kinds of document. There are the theorectical writings and statements of principle. There is the materials surrounding the composition, original production, and reception of each play – both written and visual." A Sourcebook on Feminist Theatre and Performance: On and Beyond the Stage. / edited by Carol Martin; with an introduction by Jill Dolan. August Wilson: a Research and Production Sourcebook. / Yvonne Shafer.
A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. / edited and introduced by Christopher Innes.
"This sourcebook contains a wide variety of different kinds of document. There are the theorectical writings and statements of principle. There is the materials surrounding the composition, original production, and reception of each play – both written and visual."
A Sourcebook on Feminist Theatre and Performance: On and Beyond the Stage. / edited by Carol Martin; with an introduction by Jill Dolan.
August Wilson: a Research and Production Sourcebook. / Yvonne Shafer.
More sample searches
playbills Theater programs Theatrical posters Promptbooks (promptbook* or prompt book*) and shakespeare "Early English Text Society" and (play* or drama*)
playbills
Theater programs
Theatrical posters
Promptbooks
(promptbook* or prompt book*) and shakespeare
"Early English Text Society" and (play* or drama*)
3. Search the Tufts Libraries Catalog by a Play and Find Primary Sources:
e.g., ("george Barnwell" or "london merchant") and lillo Sample findings: The British theatre: or, A collection of plays, which are acted at the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and Haymarket... With biographical and critical remarks, by Mrs. Inchbald... London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1808. Worcester Dramatic Museum. ... 17th week of the second season. ... Jan. 21st, [1853] ... (One of many historical playbills.) British theatre. [London: J. Bell, 1791-1797.] 140 plays, issued separately, each with special title-page, engraved general title-page, representing a scene from the play, and front. showing an actor in a leading part. Most of the plays are preceded by biographical sketches of the authors, criticism of the play, etc. and dramatis personae, giving the names of the players. The London apprentice; or, The melancholy history of George Barnwell: showing the evil effects of bad company; with the untimely end and execution of this deluded young man, who was induced by an infamous prostitute, named Mary Millwood, to rob his master and murder his uncle. (a chapbook/pamphlet) Covent Garden prompt books, [1710-1824].
e.g., ("george Barnwell" or "london merchant") and lillo
Sample findings:
The British theatre: or, A collection of plays, which are acted at the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and Haymarket... With biographical and critical remarks, by Mrs. Inchbald... London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1808.
Worcester Dramatic Museum. ... 17th week of the second season. ... Jan. 21st, [1853] ... (One of many historical playbills.)
British theatre. [London: J. Bell, 1791-1797.] 140 plays, issued separately, each with special title-page, engraved general title-page, representing a scene from the play, and front. showing an actor in a leading part. Most of the plays are preceded by biographical sketches of the authors, criticism of the play, etc. and dramatis personae, giving the names of the players.
The London apprentice; or, The melancholy history of George Barnwell: showing the evil effects of bad company; with the untimely end and execution of this deluded young man, who was induced by an infamous prostitute, named Mary Millwood, to rob his master and murder his uncle. (a chapbook/pamphlet)
Covent Garden prompt books, [1710-1824].
Search the Tufts Libraries Catalog by a Playwright and Find Primary Sources (or leads to primary sources):
Williams, Tennessee, 1911 - 9183 (last name first) -- Correspondence. -- Dramatic Production. -- Interviews. -- Stage History. -- Streetcar Named Desire
Play Index (find where a play is published -- in a collection, magazine, etc.)
The Best Plays (1899 – present). Stacks: PN2266.A2 B4 Contents of the annual volumes vary somewhat but include such sections as: 1. digests with critical comment on selected plays of the year; 2. title list of plays produced in New York during the year, giving for each: title, author, number of performances, theater, cast of characters, and brief outline of plot; 3. plays produced outside of New York; 4. Shakespeare festivals; 5. statistics of runs. 6. list of actors; 7. prizes and awards, and 8. index.
The Best Plays (1899 – present). Stacks: PN2266.A2 B4
Contents of the annual volumes vary somewhat but include such sections as: 1. digests with critical comment on selected plays of the year; 2. title list of plays produced in New York during the year, giving for each: title, author, number of performances, theater, cast of characters, and brief outline of plot; 3. plays produced outside of New York; 4. Shakespeare festivals; 5. statistics of runs. 6. list of actors; 7. prizes and awards, and 8. index.
Play Index. 1949-02. Ref. Z5781 .p53 (the index in print) I. Author, title, and subject index; II. Cast analysis; III. List of collections indexed.
Play Index. 1949-02. Ref. Z5781 .p53 (the index in print)
I. Author, title, and subject index; II. Cast analysis; III. List of collections indexed.
The Drama Scholars' Index to Plays and Filmscripts: a Guide to Plays and Filmscripts in Selected Anthologies, Series, and Periodicals (1974-1980). Ref. Z5781 .S17 Annual Magazine Subject-Index, including as part II, the Dramatic Index. (1909-1949) Ref. PN1655 .D67
The Drama Scholars' Index to Plays and Filmscripts: a Guide to Plays and Filmscripts in Selected Anthologies, Series, and Periodicals (1974-1980). Ref. Z5781 .S17
Annual Magazine Subject-Index, including as part II, the Dramatic Index. (1909-1949) Ref. PN1655 .D67
1. E-Texts
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (1701-1800) Eighteenth-Century E-Texts maintained by Jack Lynch of Rutgers Nineteenth Century Collections Online Afro-Americana Imprints 1535-1922 European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750 John Johnson Collection: An Archive of Printed Ephemera (includes historical playbills) Early English Books Online (1473-1700) The Making of the Modern World (books from the 1460-1850) Early American Imprints (1693 -1819) Early American Imprints II American Broadsides and Ephemera (1760-1900) Making of America: 19th c. books and magazines. Gerritsen Collection late 19th century - . Women Writers Online ( - 1850) Editions & Adaptations of Shakespeare Electronic facsimile of the First Folio Monumenta Germaniae Historica A comprehensive collection of sources in German history from about CE 500 to 1500. French Women Writers ARTFL (classical French writings, including literary works, political tracts, philosophical writings, and technical treatises.) Gallica (The catalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Gallica includes full-text and page-images of hundreds of thousands of volumes from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century, with an emphasis on nineteenth-century material.) The British Library
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (1701-1800)
Eighteenth-Century E-Texts maintained by Jack Lynch of Rutgers
Nineteenth Century Collections Online
Afro-Americana Imprints 1535-1922
European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750
John Johnson Collection: An Archive of Printed Ephemera (includes historical playbills)
Early English Books Online (1473-1700)
The Making of the Modern World (books from the 1460-1850)
Early American Imprints (1693 -1819)
Early American Imprints II
American Broadsides and Ephemera (1760-1900)
Making of America: 19th c. books and magazines.
Gerritsen Collection late 19th century - .
Women Writers Online ( - 1850)
Editions & Adaptations of Shakespeare
Electronic facsimile of the First Folio
Monumenta Germaniae Historica A comprehensive collection of sources in German history from about CE 500 to 1500.
French Women Writers
ARTFL (classical French writings, including literary works, political tracts, philosophical writings, and technical treatises.)
Gallica (The catalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Gallica includes full-text and page-images of hundreds of thousands of volumes from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century, with an emphasis on nineteenth-century material.)
The British Library
2. Collections and Web Sites
ArchiveGrid (a database of archival collection descriptions) Harvard Theatre Collection Voice of the Shuttle: Drama, Theater, & Performance Art Studies The Worldwide Wide Web Virtual Library: Theatre and Drama Playbill On-line College Theatre Guide -- Association for Theatre in Higher Education Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia
ArchiveGrid (a database of archival collection descriptions)
Harvard Theatre Collection
Voice of the Shuttle: Drama, Theater, & Performance Art Studies
The Worldwide Wide Web Virtual Library: Theatre and Drama
Playbill On-line
College Theatre Guide -- Association for Theatre in Higher Education
Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia
3. Historical Newspapers and Periodicals
New York Times Online Archive (1851 - 3 years before current date) Alt-PressWatch Ethnic NewsWatch African American Newspapers - 19th Century American Newspapers (1690 - 1922) Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (1860-1922) Latin American Newspapers Series 1, 1805-1922 (45 titles) Latin American Newspapers Series 2, 1822-1922 (250 additional titles) African Newspapers, 1800-1922 East European Newspapers, 1835-1922 South Asian Newspapers, 1864-1922 Art Index Retrospective (1929- 1982) Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) American Periodicals (1740 - 1940) OpinionArchives Some of the oldest continuously published magazines in America, including American Spectator, Commentary, Commonweal, Dissent, Harpers Magazine, NACLA, The Nation, The National Review, The New Republic, New York Review, and The New Yorker. British Periodicals in the Creative Arts British Periodicals (1680s - 1930s) British Humanities Index (1962- ) Times Digital Archive (1785 - 1985) 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers (British)
New York Times Online Archive (1851 - 3 years before current date)
Alt-PressWatch Ethnic NewsWatch
African American Newspapers - 19th Century American Newspapers (1690 - 1922) Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (1860-1922)
Latin American Newspapers Series 1, 1805-1922 (45 titles) Latin American Newspapers Series 2, 1822-1922 (250 additional titles)
African Newspapers, 1800-1922
East European Newspapers, 1835-1922
South Asian Newspapers, 1864-1922
Art Index Retrospective (1929- 1982)
Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982)
American Periodicals (1740 - 1940)
OpinionArchives Some of the oldest continuously published magazines in America, including American Spectator, Commentary, Commonweal, Dissent, Harpers Magazine, NACLA, The Nation, The National Review, The New Republic, New York Review, and The New Yorker.
British Periodicals in the Creative Arts British Periodicals (1680s - 1930s) British Humanities Index (1962- ) Times Digital Archive (1785 - 1985) 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers (British)
4. Images
ARTstor Digital Library Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia
ARTstor Digital Library
Dictionary of Literary Biography The Oxford Dictionary of Plays. PN1625 .P38 2005 The Cambridge Guide to Theatre The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre & Performance
Dictionary of Literary Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of Plays. PN1625 .P38 2005
The Cambridge Guide to Theatre
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre & Performance
A. Use Library Catalogs to find books and other types of Documents
1. Tufts Libraries Catalog 2. WorldCat (beyond Tufts) 3. Gallica (The catalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Gallica includes full-text and page-images of hundreds of thousands of volumes from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century, with an emphasis on nineteenth-century material.) 4. The British Library 5. Internet Archive (digital editions of out-of-copyright books, generally pre-1923.) 6. Hathi Trust (a partnership of major research institutions and libraries) 7. Google Books Digital editions of out-of-copyright books, generally pre-1923, and previews of books in copyright.
1. Tufts Libraries Catalog
2. WorldCat (beyond Tufts)
3. Gallica (The catalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Gallica includes full-text and page-images of hundreds of thousands of volumes from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century, with an emphasis on nineteenth-century material.)
4. The British Library
5. Internet Archive (digital editions of out-of-copyright books, generally pre-1923.)
6. Hathi Trust (a partnership of major research institutions and libraries)
7. Google Books Digital editions of out-of-copyright books, generally pre-1923, and previews of books in copyright.
Sample search on a playwright and his/her Works in the Catalog:
Primary Sources (or leads to primary sources)
Williams, Tennessee, 1911 - 9183 (last name first)
-- Correspondence
-- Dramatic Production.
-- Interviews.
-- Stage History.
-- Streetcar Named Desire
Secondary Sources
-- Bibliography.
-- Criticism And Interpretation.
-- Film And Video Adaptations.
place your topic in a larger context:
“Southern states” and (playwright or drama*)
1 & 2. JSTOR and Project Muse JSTOR is a favorite with its full texts in core journals of all disciplines. Project Muse does not include exactly the same JSTOR journals, but it has more recent and current articles on many topics. 2. Academic OneFile All subjects; a convenient Quick Start. Here are some sample findings.) 3. MLA (for drama criticism & theatre history) 4. History America: History and Life Historical Abstracts (non-U.S.) African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 5. Period Studies: International Medieval Bibliography (400-1500). Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400 -1700). 6. Performing Arts Film & Television Literature Index International Index to the Performing Arts IIPA Communication & Mass Media Complete 7. Area Studies Africa Bibliography of Asian Studies Index Islamicus PRISMA (Latin American Studies) Slavic and East European Studies 8. More Subjects Anthropology Plus ARTbibliographies Modern Religion Women's Studies International 9. When use GoogleScholar, set your Library Links to access Tufts full texts.
1 & 2. JSTOR and Project Muse
JSTOR is a favorite with its full texts in core journals of all disciplines. Project Muse does not include exactly the same JSTOR journals, but it has more recent and current articles on many topics.
2. Academic OneFile All subjects; a convenient Quick Start. Here are some sample findings.)
3. MLA (for drama criticism & theatre history)
4. History
America: History and Life
Historical Abstracts (non-U.S.)
African American Periodicals, 1825-1995
5. Period Studies:
International Medieval Bibliography (400-1500).
Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400 -1700).
6. Performing Arts
Film & Television Literature Index
International Index to the Performing Arts IIPA
Communication & Mass Media Complete
7. Area Studies
Africa
Bibliography of Asian Studies
Index Islamicus
PRISMA (Latin American Studies)
Slavic and East European Studies
8. More Subjects
Anthropology Plus
ARTbibliographies Modern
Religion
Women's Studies International
9. When use GoogleScholar, set your Library Links to access Tufts full texts.
Sample searches for journal articles:
Find "Literature Review" Articles
Reviews of recent books and other types of review articles in major art history journals are likely to summarize the current state of research in an area.
Samples:
Leigh Clemons. "The Swastika and the Stage: German Theatre and Society, 1933–1945 (review)." Theatre Journal 62.2 (May 2010): 310-311.
Megan Evans. "The Eternal Present of the Past: Illustration, Theater, and Reading in the Wanli Period, 1573–1619 (review)." Asian Theatre Journal 26.1 (2009): 176-179.
More sources for reviews:
The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory (1996-current)
H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences (1994- )
Find More Articles like this "perfect" one
How: Search, in Arts and Humanities Citation Index, for the article you have read. For example the article in your syllabus: For example: Barnett, David. "When is a Play not a Drama? Two Examples of Postdramatic Theatre Texts ." New Theatre Quarterly 24: 93 (2008), 14-23. References: 15 Times Cited: 2 You can, then, look up, in the record, the 15 references that Barnett cited for his article and, in turn, 2 articles (so far) that cited his. The assumption is that these articles address related issues. Note: 1. Not every single article is cited; 2. Influential authors are cited more often; 3. More recent publications take time to be cited.
How:
Search, in Arts and Humanities Citation Index, for the article you have read. For example the article in your syllabus:
For example:
Barnett, David. "When is a Play not a Drama? Two Examples of Postdramatic Theatre Texts ." New Theatre Quarterly 24: 93 (2008), 14-23. References: 15 Times Cited: 2
You can, then, look up, in the record, the 15 references that Barnett cited for his article and, in turn, 2 articles (so far) that cited his. The assumption is that these articles address related issues.
Note:
1. Not every single article is cited; 2. Influential authors are cited more often; 3. More recent publications take time to be cited.
Popular Press
Book, Movie, Music, Play, And Video Reviews (in LexisNexis) Factiva (more international coverage)
Book, Movie, Music, Play, And Video Reviews (in LexisNexis)
Factiva (more international coverage)
Theater Reviews (in pirnt)
New York Theatre Critics' Reviews. (1944 to 1994) Ref. PN1601 .N4 (Continued by National Theatre Critics Reviews. Ref. PN 2000 .N3) Theatre Record 1985- . (British; bound Periodicals PN2596 .L6 L66)
New York Theatre Critics' Reviews. (1944 to 1994) Ref. PN1601 .N4 (Continued by National Theatre Critics Reviews. Ref. PN 2000 .N3)
Theatre Record 1985- . (British; bound Periodicals PN2596 .L6 L66)
Theater
Drama
The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory
The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies. (Bookstacks: PB1 .Y45)
American Theatre (print)
Asian Theatre Journal
Comparative Drama
The Journal of American Drama and Theatre (print)
Modern Drama
New Theatre Quarterly: NTQ
PAJ: a Journal of Performance and Art
Shakespeare Bulletin
TD & T
TDR: The Drama Review
Theatre History Studies (print)
Theatre Journal
Theatre Research International
Theatre Studies (print)
Theatre Survey
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique
African Cultural Studies
The China Quarterly
China Review International
Modern Chinese Literature and Culture
The Journal of Japanese Studies
Mechademia
Monumenta Nipponica
German Life and Letters
The German Quarterly
German Studies Review
Forum Modernes Theater
New German Critique
Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies
Theater Heute
Die Unterrichtspraxis (Teaching German)
Bulletin of Latin American Research
Hispanic American Historical Review
Russian Review
Slavic and East European Journal
18th-Century European Drama and Performance
African American Theater and Film
The American Musicals
Costume Design
The Evolution of Fashion
Holocaust on Stage & Screen
Contemporary Latin American Performance--Performance, Activism, and Memory in the Southern Cone
Latino Theatre and Film
Monologues & Plays
Theater & Society I: Prehistory to 1700
Theater & Society II: The Early Modern Period
The Theoretical & Historical Development of African American Theatre
Master's theses and Ph.D. dissertations at Tisch Library: To search by topic, author, advisor or title, use this search form. To browse by department, follow this link, Tufts University. Dept. of Drama and Dance. Dissertations & Theses@Tufts (full text) Dissertations & Theses: Full Text (beyond Tufts) Most Tufts Ph.D. dissertations issued after 1996; most Tufts master’s theses issued after 2005 Dissertations and theses worldwide; over 2 million titles; more than 930,000 are available in PDF format DART - Europe E-theses portal **Information about submitting your dissertation or thesis to Tufts' Digital Collections and Archives.
Master's theses and Ph.D. dissertations at Tisch Library:
To search by topic, author, advisor or title, use this search form. To browse by department, follow this link, Tufts University. Dept. of Drama and Dance.
To search by topic, author, advisor or title, use this search form.
To browse by department, follow this link, Tufts University. Dept. of Drama and Dance.
Dissertations & Theses@Tufts (full text) Dissertations & Theses: Full Text (beyond Tufts) Most Tufts Ph.D. dissertations issued after 1996; most Tufts master’s theses issued after 2005 Dissertations and theses worldwide; over 2 million titles; more than 930,000 are available in PDF format
Dissertations & Theses@Tufts (full text)
Dissertations & Theses: Full Text (beyond Tufts)
Most Tufts Ph.D. dissertations issued after 1996; most Tufts master’s theses issued after 2005
Dissertations and theses worldwide; over 2 million titles; more than 930,000 are available in PDF format
DART - Europe E-theses portal
**Information about submitting your dissertation or thesis to Tufts' Digital Collections and Archives.
**Requested dissertations through Interlibrary Loan, when full tex is not available
Please use the Form for routine purchase request:
Tel: 617-627-2398 Email:christopher.barbour@tufts.edu
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