Seeley G. Mudd Library, Lawrence University

Seeley G. Mudd Library, Lawrence University

Theatre and Drama 212: Theatre Traditions: Greeks through 18th Century

About Research in Theater Traditions

Your assignment is to choose a play, assemble a notebook, and prepare a 10 minutes presentation based on 2 collages with handouts for a production team working on this play.
The notebook will contain all materials you have gathered, including photocopies, notes from a source with a citation for the source, pictures, a disc with images, etc.
Your collages will explore the Given Circumstances and the Cultural Background of your play.
A handout will include extra information and a bibliography of your most useful sources.

Remember that there are two acceptable English spellings, theatre and theater. When doing a Subject search in LUCIA, always use theater. In other searches such as keyword or title, or when using other sources or databases, both spellings may apply. You may truncate your search in LUCIA by using a ? (theat?)
Try a Subject begins with... search using the beginning portion of a subject term given below. For instance, Subject begins with... greek drama will give you a list eventually including "greek drama history and criticism."

Suggested LUCIA Search Terms

Greeks

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top
Romans

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

Middle Ages

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

Italian Renaissance

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

English Renaissance

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

Spanish Renaissance

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

French Renaissance

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

English Restoration

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top

18th Century

"Subject begins with..." Terms in LUCIA

Keyword Search Terms in LUCIA

Top
Material on the theater can be drawn from many fields like history, music, gender studies and literature, just to name a few. In addition to consulting catalogs and indexes, be sure to look at bibliographies supplied at the end of relevant articles, chapters, and books, and to search library catalogs for book-length bibliographies.

Your sources must be fully documented in any written work you produce. Use MLA format for your citations:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
RRef. LB2369 .G53 2003

The sources listed in this guide were chosen specifically for the time periods to be convered in this course. Direct links are provided to Internet resources and searchable databases, as well as links to LUCIA, the library's online catalog. Be sure to check the library's Electronic Resources page regularly to see new Databases, Indexes, Web Resources; some of these will only be available to users on the Lawrence campus. Also, you may want to take a look at guides on related topics from the Library Research Guides page.

It's important to think carefully about any information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources, and this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL. As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.

Top

General Information:

Artslynx International Arts Resources: Theatre Resources
Maintained by Richard Finkelstein, a college professor, stage designer, and arts advocate, this compendium of internet sites includes material from unusual topics, like Drama Therapy, Fight Direction, Performance Art, Stage Management, Storytelling, Theatre Architecture, and Theatre of Social Responsibility. Beware of some dead links.

Dictionary of the Theatre: Terms, Concepts, and Analysis.
Ref. PN 2035 .P2913 1998
    Lengthy definitions of theater terms. Includes suggested further readings contained in the extensive bibliography.

Drama A to Z. Jack A. Vaughn.
Ref. PN1625 .V3
    Another dictionary of theater terms. Helpfully hightlights words in the definitions that have their own entries.

Drama Dictionary. Terry Hodgson.
Ref. PN1625 .H62 1988
    Another dictionary of theater terms. Helpfully hightlights words in the definitions that have their own entries. Some entries also have short bibliographies.

New York Public Library's Selected Theatre Internet Sites
Extensive links to theater-related sites. Includes a few dead links.

Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Phyllis Hartnoll, ed. 4th ed.
Ref. PN2035 .H3 1983
    Concise to lengthy entries on people, terms, theaters, countries, etc.

TheatreHistory.com
Commercial site, but seems to have a wealth of information. Searchable and organized by categories, primarily by country. Be prepared for flashing ads.

Theatre Language; A Dictionary of Terms in English of the Drama and Stage from Medieval to Modern Times. Walter Parker Bowman and Robert Hamilton Ball.
Ref. PN2035 .B6
    Short definitions of theater terminology.

Top

Databases and Indexes

Use to find citations, abstracts and sometimes full-text of periodical articles or full-text of books or other documents. These are all available from the pull-down menu on the Library Research page.

Art Abstracts
Leading publications in the world of the arts.

EBSCOhost.
Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. Searches a single database or multiple databases. Contains broad and specialized coverage of academic and general periodicals. Use the Go or Back button on your browser after exiting EBSCOhost to leave the system.

Expanded Academic ASAP.
Broad coverage of academic periodicals from 1980 to the present. Includes full text of some articles.

Historical Abstracts.
Citations, abstracts and some full text from hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history. Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada.)

MLA International Bibliography. 1963-
The leading source for the field of literary studies. Wide ranging index to just about anything of a scholarly nature related to literature and language.

RILM
International index to scholarly music periodicals and other music sources (dissertations, chapters in book, etc.) Citations and abstracts.

Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, look in LUCIA for the title of the journal to see if the library owns it. You should also search BESS, an automated search of the library's fulltext databases, for electronic copies of articles.

Top

Finding Images:

The Age of King Charles V (1338-1380): 1,000 Illuminations from the Department of Manuscripts. From The Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Includes a section on "Sports and Entertainment."

Architecture Slide Library S.P.I.R.O.
"SPIRO contains surrogate images of photographs and drawings from approximately 2,000 books, 200 periodical titles, and 100 postcards, posters, and calendars." Includes the period "Rome-500 BCE to 350 CE." From the University of California, Berkeley Architecture Visual Resources Library.

The Elizabethan Costuming Page (Drea Leed)
A huge warehouse of links. Includes sections on history, design and construction techniques.

Europe Medieval Drama (Sidney Higgins)
A personal but useful collection of links to Medieval Drama sites.

Illustrated Shakespeare, 1826-1919.
"Includes heavily illustrated versions of Shakespeare published in twelve works between 1826 and 1919. Some text, such as picture captions, title pages, dialogue, and synopses of plays, but concentration is on images produced by an array of technologies available in the 19th and early 20th century. Fully searchable provided by University of Wisconsin - Madison Libraries."

International Theatre Design Archive
"The International Theatre Design Archive was initiated with 'Project 2000' which intended to work toward providing links to two thousand scenic, costume, and lighting designs archived on the Internet by the year 2000." From the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. "The designs in this collection are the property of the original designers. Any duplication of these designs, electronically or on the stage, without the written permission of the designer may be illegal."

Maecenas: Images of Ancient Greece and Rome.
A collection of photographs of ancient Roman art and architecture in Italy and France. Images are copyrighted, but may be used for non-commercial purposes.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater Photographic History Mark Avery collection, 1977-1994
"The Milwaukee Repertory Theater Photographic History presents selected images of the plays performed from 1977 to 1994. The digital collection includes 1,800 images documenting 195 performances."

19th-Century Photography of Ancient Greece.
"Illustrates approximately 200 nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Focusing on Greece, Asia Minor, the Aegean islands, Cyprus, South Italy, and Sicily, these images belong to the Getty Research Institute's Gary Edwards Collection."

Old Sword-Play
Lessons from the works of various authors of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries compiled by Captain Alfred Hutton, "Victorian scholar of the sword," over one hundred years ago.

OSSHE Historical & Cultural Atlas Resource - Europe
Browsable listing of images of Greek and Roman ruins throughout Europe. From the University of Oregon.

Picture Collection Online
Select group of images from The New York Public Library covering over 12,000 subjects including Costume and Design.

Stage-Lighting-Museum
Images of stage lighting from the Italian Renaissance through the 20th century.

Théâtrales (André G. Bourassa and Barry Russell, Univ. de Québec à Montréal)
A very scholarly collection of resources on French theatre throughout its history. "Une collection de textes et d'hypertextes en français sur le théâtre." Includes time lines. En français, naturellement.

Web Gallery of Art
European painting and sculpture 1150-1800.

Top

The Play as History:


Research the Playwright

The playwright's last name can be used as a Subject begins with... search in LUCIA. You can also do a Keyword anywhere search on the name.

Critical Survey of Drama : English Language Series. Frank N. Magill, ed. 6 vols. and supplement.
Ref. PR623 .C75 1985 v. 1-6 and Ref. PR623 .C75 1987
    Arranged by author. Extensive biographical information. Analyses of selected major plays plus a listing of other major works. Bibliographies.

A Guide to Reference and Bibliography for Theatre Research. Claudia Jean Bailey.
Ref. Z5781 .L87

Research Guide to Biography and Criticism : World Drama. Walton Beacham, ed.
Ref. PR85 .R47 1985 v.3


Research Past Productions

Calendrier des spectacles sous l'Ancien Régime, 1601 - 1774 (Barry Russell)
Description from Rutgers University: "An in-progress catalogue of all performances -- theatre, opera, ballet -- in Louisquatorzean France." In French.

National newspapers such as the New York Times are excellent sources for reviews, as are the popular periodicals listed in Poole's Index to Periodical Literature and Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Also, be sure to search the library's online catalog for the author's name (last name first) as a Subject; you will find criticism and interpretation of the author's works.

A Guide to Critical Reviews. James M. Salem.
Ref. Z5782 .S34 vol. 3-4
Ref. Z5782 .S342 vol. 2-3
Ref. Z5782 .S342 1984 vol.1-2
Ref. Z5782 .S34 v.4 Suppl. 1963-80

Lexis/Nexis Academic: Guided News Search
Various dates; the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times have indexing back to 1980, with full text added at later dates. Other papers are added dating mostly from the mid 1990's.

New York Theatre Critics Reviews. Microfilm, 1940-1957
New York Theatre Critics Reviews. Bound, 1970-1994
National Theatre Critics Reviews. Bound, 1995-1996
The library owns scattered issues of these publications, in print and on microfilm. Publication ceased in 1996.
Microform Area
Periodicals Level A

New York Times. 1851-current.
The New York Times is on microfilm for 1851-2003. The library also provides access to New York Times on the web.
New York Times and New York Times Index--Reference Indexes Area
New York Times (1851-2002)

Theatre : Stage to Screen to Television. William Torbert Leonard.
More Theatre : Stage to Screen to Television. Alvin H. Marill.
Theatre--Ref. PN2189 .L44
More Theatre--Ref. PN2189 .L44 1993

Times (London, England). 1941-current.
The leading British paper. The Times itself is held on microfilm.
Times--Microforms
Times index--Reference Indexes

Newspapers from ProQuest
Indexing and some full text for international English-language, national, and regional newspapers.

The World Wide Web is another good source of reviews, especially for smaller companies whose productions might not be reviewed in the larger newspapers. See the information below on Web Resources and the library's page on Searching the Internet for more help.

Top

The Play as Text:


Script Analysis

Do a Title begins with... search on the play's title in LUCIA. Remember, however, that plays are often found in anthologies. Try the play's title in quotes as a Keyword anywhere search.

The Book of 1000 Plays. Compiled and edited by Steve Fletcher and Norman Jopling with contributions from David Hallam ... [et al.].
Ref. PN6112.5 .F54 1989
    Ancient Greece to modern. Organized by title of play. Plots summaries, date of premieres. Includes index to authors.

Early English Books Online.
Full digital facsimile images of books printed in English from 1475 to 1700 in many subject areas. Searchable and browsable.

Masterplots II. 12 vols.
Ref. PN44 .M33 1976
    Arranged by play title. Plot summaries and critical essay reviews.

Top

Historical background

The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Martin Banham, ed.
Ref. PN2035 .C27 1995
    Encyclopedia arrangement; no indexes. Illustrated. Good explanations of time periods. Entries on countries are quite lengthy. Good for historical background.

Chronology of World History : A Calendar of Principal Events from 3000 BC to AD 1973. G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville.
Ref. D11 .F75 1975

The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays, from Ancient Greece to Modern Times. Joseph T. Shipley.
Ref. PN6112.5 .S45 1984
    Organized by author. Gives historical background and critiques. Some entries have synopses and descriptions of productions.

Don Juan, or "Europe Unmasked"
Description from Stetson University: "Accessible in French or English, this is a very well-presented (award-winning) site which explores 'literature, art, religion and society' in 17th century Europe through various tales of Don Juan, drawn from narrative, dramatic, and other sources."

Eighteenth Century Life
Addresses all aspects of European and world culture during the long eighteenth century, 1660-1832. It includes both articles and substantial review essays. Many issues are illustrated. Full text available through Project Muse (1996-present). Indexed in Academic Search Elite via EBSCOhost.

Eighteenth Century Studies
Official publication of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) committed to publishing the best of current writing on all aspects of eighteenth-century culture. Available through Project Muse (1995-present).

An Encyclopedia of World History : Ancient, Medieval and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. William L. Langer, compiler and ed.
Ref. D21 .L27 1980

The London stage 1660-1800: A calendar of plays, entertainments & afterpieces... William Van Lennep, ed. 5 vols.
Ref. PN2592 .L6
    Chronologically arranged exhaustive survey of the London theater scene from 1660-1800. Gives a monthly account of plays produced in London during that time. Lengthy introduction discusses individual playhouses, financing, licensing, admission, theater arts, actors and acting, salaries, repertory, and a host of other topics. Essential for those studying the London theater.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. 5 vols.
Ref. PN1625 .M3 1984
    Entries for authors, styles, countries. "Extensive information about the surrounding context of performance." Criticisms listed in bibliographies. MANY illustrations.

The People's Chronology : a Year-by-Year Record of Human Events from Prehistory to the Present. James Trager.
Ref. D11 .T83 1994

The Timetables of History : A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. Bernard Grun.
Ref. D11 .G78 1991

Who Was When? : A Dictionary of Contemporaries. Miriam Allen de Ford and Joan S. Jackson.
Ref. CT103 .D4 1976

Top

Definitions of terms and abbreviations:

Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Current issues; Level A
Periodical Back Files = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
Reference Indexes = Alphabetically arranged at the end of the reference collection
Microform Area = Reading room east of the reference desk, near microform drawers
q. = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and scores; at end of classes in other collections

Top

Created: 09-January-2006
Last updated: 10-January-2006
Antoinette Powell, Music Librarian