I. ENCYCLOPEDIAS & HANDBOOKS:
-For background on plays and biographical informationabout playwrights:
- Cambridge Guide to World Theatre (REF PN2035.C27 1995).
- McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama (REF PN1625.M3).
- Oxford Companion to American Theatre (REF PN2220.B6 1984).
- Oxford Companion to the Theatre (REF PN2035.O98 1983).
- American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama (REF PN2266 B64 1996).
II. BIOGRAPHICAL/CRITICAL REFERENCE SOURCES:
- American Playwrights 1880-1945: A Research and Production Sourcebook
(REF PS 351.A44 1995)
- American Playwrights Since 1945; A Guide to Scholarship, Criticism
and Performance(REF PS350.A53 1989).
- American Women Playwrights, 1900-1950 (REF PS338 W6S48 1995).
- Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays: A Biographical
Directory and Dramatic Index (REF PS153 N5P43 1988).
- Contemporary Dramatists (REF PR106.C67 1993).
- Entries on living dramatists writing in English.
- Critical Survey of Drama: English Language Series (REF PN1625.C73
1985).
- Biographical and critical essays on important English-language
dramatists from all periods of British, Irish, American, Canadian,
Australian, African, Afro-American, and West Indian drama.
- Critical Survey of Drama: Foreign Language Series (REF PN1625.C74
1986).
- Biographical and critical essays on important world dramatists
from ancient times to the present. Cumulated author and title indexes
are located in Vol.6.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography (REF PS88.D57).
- Critical essays on dramatists, mainly English and American, from
the Renaissance to the present. Part, but not all, of the material in
print volumes are included in the online
Literature Resource Center.
- Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers: A Biographical
Directory and Catalog of Plays, Films, and Broadcasting Scripts (REF PS153
N5P44 1990).
- Women Playwrights of Diversity: A Bio-bibliographical Sourcebook
(REF PS 338 W6P48 1997).
III. COMPILATIONS OF REPRINTS OF CRITICISM:
- Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 (REF PN86.L53).
- Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (REF PN761.N5).
- Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (REF PN771.G27).
- Contemporary Literary Criticism (RE F PN771.C59).
- All of the titles listed above are included, at least in part, in
the
Literature Resource Center available online.
- Selected Theatre Criticism, 1900-1950 (REF PN2277.N5S44).
- Reviews of New York stage productions.
IV. LOCATING CRITICISM OF INDIVIDUAL PLAYS:
- Breed, P.F. Dramatic Criticism Index (REF Z5781.B8 1972).
- Carpenter, C.A. Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism, 1966-1980
(REF PN1621.C37 1986).
- This is updated by the annual bibliography in the journal, Modern
Drama (PER).
- Coleman, A. Drama Criticism; Vol 1, A Checklist of Interpretation
since 1940 of English and American Plays (REF Z5781.C65 V.1).
- Coleman, A. Drama Criticism; Vol. 2: A Checklist of Interpretation
since 1940 of Classical and Continental Plays (REF Z5781.C65 V.2).
- Eddleman, F.E. American Drama Criticism; Interpretations, 1890-1977
(REF PS332.E39 1979). Supplements I & II bring the coverage to
1987.
- Forman, R.J. Classical Greek and Roman Drama (REF PA3024.F57
1989).
- Gwinup, T. Greek and Roman Authors: A Checklist of Criticism
(REF Z7016.G9).
- King, K. Ten Modern American Playwrights: an Annotated Bibliography
(REF PS351.K56 1982).
- Lists criticism of Albee, Baraka, Bullins, Gelber, Kopit, Mamet,
Rabe, Shepard, Simon and Wilson
- New York Times Directory of the Theater (REF Z6935.N48 1973).
- This is an index to theater reviews printed in The New York
Times from 1920 to 1970
- Palmer, H.H. European Drama Criticism, 1900-1975 (REF Z5781.P2
1977).
- Salem, J.M. A Guide to Critical Reviews, Pt. 1: American Drama,
1909-1982 (REF PN2266.S16 1984).
- Salem, J.M. A Guide to Critical Reviews, Pt. 3: Foreign Drama
(REF PN2266.S24 V.3).
- Weiner, A. Literary Criticism Index (REF DESK PN523.W44
1984).
- Index to 86 major indexes.
V. THEATRE REVIEWS
-To locate current reviews of a play, look under the name of the playwright
or the title of the play, in the following indexes, in the volume covering
the date of production:
- New York Times Index (index tables in Reference area).
- Look under the heading "Theater" and then the title (for reviews
published 1920 to 1970, see listing above for New York Times Directory
of the Theater).
- Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+ (index tables
in reference area).
-
Academic Search Premiere
JDC Rev 8/93, VK, JS 4/97, LS 2/02