Research Guides: Theatre / Drama Research Guide: Articles &amp; Reference

Article Databases, Including Analysis, Criticism, Etc.

Engine Orange This link opens in a new window
Find books, articles, films, and MORE with a single search, from the SHSU library catalog and a large number of selected databases.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Huge collection of full-text articles in back issues of journals in most subject areas. Review dates and journals included by subject and alphabetically.
Humanities Source This link opens in a new window Provides many of the most important academic journals in the humanities. Includes feature articles, interviews, bibliographies, obituaries, and original works of fiction, drama, poetry and book reviews, as well as reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, radio and television programs, plays, operas, and more.
Literary Reference Center This link opens in a new window Information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. Contains thousands of plot summaries, synopses, work overviews, literary criticism articles/essays, author biographies and interviews, literary journals, book reviews, classic and contemporary poems and short stories, classic texts, and much more. Also includes a wide range of leading encyclopedias and other works in literary studies.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window Full-text journals in many disciplines across the sciences and humanities. SHSU subscribes to "Project Muse Premium."

Information on Productions (Reviews, etc.)

New York Times Historical, 1851 to 3 years ago This link opens in a new window Every page of every issue of the New York Times, from 1851 until approximately 3 years ago.
New York Times (online and app access) This link opens in a new window
You must register for an account using your SHSU (.edu) email address
Step 1: Navigate to AccessNYT.com
Step 2: Search for and select "Sam Houston State University"
You will be redirected to the NYT registration page.
Step 3: Click "Create Account" and complete fields; use your @shsu.edu email address
Step 4: Verify your account (you will receive a confirmation email)*
*The confirmation email may be routed to your spam folder. You must click the link in this email to complete the registration.
Step 1: Navigate to AccessNYT.com
Step 2: Search for and select "Sam Houston State University"
You will be redirected to the NYT registration page.
Step 3: Click "Create Account" and complete fields; use your @shsu.edu email address
Step 4: Verify your account (you will receive a confirmation email)*
*The confirmation email may be routed to your spam folder. You must click the link in this email to complete the registration.
Existing New York Times ID
If you have previously registered your @edu email address on The New York Times site, you will click the "Already have an account?" Log in here" link for Step 3.
Access World News This link opens in a new window Search current and archived state, regional, national and international full-text articles on issues, events, business, education, government, politics and more with thousands of newspapers, news journals, news videos, newswires and web-only content. Includes Acceda Noticias, Access Broadcast Transcripts, Access Business News, Access Military, Government & Defense, and Access Newswires.
The Times Digital Archive, 1785 to 2014 This link opens in a new window "World's newspaper of record." Covers all major international historical events. Every page of every issue, from 1785 to 2014.

Internet Off-Broadway Database

Librarian

Rebecca Yantis

she/her/hers

Email Me

Contact:

NGL 223B

936-294-1629

Theatre Databases

Theatre Performance & Design Collection This link opens in a new window Theatre Performance & Design Collection is a combination of video content types used in theatre education (filmed stage performances, master classes, documentaries, and training material) with previously unpublished production designs, reference texts, and top-of-the-line teaching tools. This database allows users to revisit great performances again and again.

Internet Off-Broadway Database

Gale OneFile: Fine Arts This link opens in a new window Gale OneFile: Fine Arts places millions of articles at the fingertips of serious students of drama, music, art history, and filmmaking.
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Biographical Resources

Internet Off-Broadway Database

Biography Index Past and Present This link opens in a new window Biography Index Past and Present is a bibliographic database that cites biographical material appearing in selected periodicals, current books of individual and collective biography, and incidental biographical material in otherwise non-biographical books. Periodicals cover all major subject areas. Biographical subjects indexed range from antiquity to the present and represent all fields and nationalities.
Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online This link opens in a new window Complete online access to all volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography, the main series, as well as the Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series and the Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook Series. Provides comprehensive literary biographies of past and present authors, historians, journalists, screenwriters, publishers, and playwrights, with coverage of lives and careers as well as the critical response to their works.
Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window (number of simultaneous users is limited) An illustrated collection of specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past since the fourth century BC.
Gale in Context: Biography This link opens in a new window
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Reference Databases

Gale Ebooks (*formerly* Gale Virtual Reference Library - GVRL) This link opens in a new window Collection of ebooks (primarily reference) in almost all subjects, which are searchable together or individually. For a list of titles currently available, click on "Title List" at top right.
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Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window (number of simultaneous users is limited) Combines quick reference coverage of the full subject spectrum with the rich resources of the Oxford Companions from ready-reference to comprehensive scholarly articles. See the titles in Oxford Reference.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Credo Reference has access to over 3,400,000 entries, from over 675 reference books, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, etc. Subjects covered include art, biography, history, literature, music, religion, and science and technology
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Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new window These authoritative guides combine the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia in these 14 subject areas: American Literature; Art History; Atlantic History; British and Irish Literature; Childhood Studies; Cinema & Media Studies; Criminology; Education; Medieval Studies; Military History; Music; Psychology; Sociology; Victorian Literature.

Internet Off-Broadway Database

Additonal Resources for Cultural Background / Setting

This is not a comprehensive list, but a selection of starting points; other resources will apply, depending on the place and period of the play.

ENGL 2342: Resource Guide for Cultural Background
by Hannah Menendez Last Updated Aug 26, 2024 14 views this year

A to Z World Culture This link opens in a new window Provides details on culture, history, geography, business, etc. for 175 countries, including unique sections on Stereotypes, Superstitions, and Folklore.
Vogue Archive (1892-present) This link opens in a new window Entire run of Vogue magazine from 1892-present, including text, images, captions, advertisements, covers, and fold-outs. Useful for researching fashion design and marketing, popular culture, photography and visual arts, gender, social history, designing period costumes, and more.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 This link opens in a new window Complete, full-color run of the worlds most iconic illustrated newspaper. Covers topics such as news, wars, royal events, scientific invention, exploration, fashion, and more.

Basic A-to-Z Search

Looking for a specific journal? Journals A to Z links users to journals available through any Newton Gresham Library database. It is possible to locate journals by title and subject.

Journals A to Z is not an article database, it is a portal to database availability within the library collection. As with all Newton Gresham Library databases, users will need to authenticate before proceeding with using Journals A to Z from off campus.

Selection of Available Journals

Modern Drama

Modern Drama is the most prominent journal in English to focus on dramatic literature. The journal features refereed articles written from a variety of geo-political points of view, both formal and historical, of the dramatic literature of the past two centuries; there is also an extensive book review section.

TDR: The Drama Review

TDR provides scholarship on performances and their social, economic and political contexts. With an emphasis on the experimental, avant-garde, intercultural and interdisciplinary, it covers dance theatre, performance art, popular entertainment, media, sports, rituals and performance in politics and everyday life.

Mimesis Journal

Mimesis Journal gathers authors from different countries and generations concerned in contemporary theatre and performance. Its critical attitude is trans-cultural and trans-disciplinary, that is, not just historicising but mainly phenomenological. Published by Accademia University Press, the journal proposes twice a year articles written in Italian, French or English.

Theatre Survey

Theatre Survey is chartered by the American Society for Theatre Research as a theatre history journal. Its theatrical and historical orientations are broadly conceived. Performance-centered and historiographic studies from all points across the historical, cultural, and methodological spectra are welcome. Recent issues have included an article on the early professional deaf theatre in post-Stalinist Soviet Union, a study of the gestural vocabulary found in surviving images of early commedia dell'arte, a philosophical treatise by Alan Badiou, and an essay on the impact of neoliberalism—from the classroom to the department to the “global university”—that suggests how theatre and performance scholars might approach the political difficulties currently threatening the mission of higher education.