LibGuides: Theatre Resources: Databases

Internet Database

Broadway League

The official database for Broadway theatre information. Provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today.

Periodicals in paper at the AU Library

American Theatre -- 1993-2008, 2012-current
Plays -- 2000-current [children's literature]
TDR: The Drama Review -- 1987-1995
Theatre Crafts -- 1975-1992

Other full-text periodicals in AU Library databases

American Theatre (see also top box above)
Australian Drama Education Magazine
Back Stage
Back Stage West
English Drama Media
Live Design
Puppetry Journal
Stage Directions (see also next box below)
TCI: Theatre Crafts International
Theater
Theatre Bay Area
TheatreForum

News in the Arts

Searching Article Databases

Databases are the most efficient way to find quality articles. It's important to use the most useful database for your particular topic.

Full Database List

Many of the article citations include a link to full text of the article, in either PDF or HTML format. If there is no full text link for an article, click on Full Text Finder to discover if the article is available in full text in another of our databases. If there is no or full text link, use the Interlibrary Loan Request Form to request the article.

Theatre Databases

Drama Criticism (Gale)
Provides full-text or excerpted drama criticism from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers, and scholarly journals. For each play or playwright featured, presents a full range of critical opinion, along with a biographical sketch and a chronological list of the writer's major works.
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance With Full Text (EBSCO)
Content includes over 60,000 journal articles, books, book chapters, and abstracts of dissertations on all aspects of theatre and performance in 126 countries. Boasts 490+ full-text titles, including more than 170 full-text journals, and more than 360 full-text books & monographs. Topics covered include ballet, cinema, comedy, dance, drama, film, mime, opera, puppetry, and theatre.
Humanities International Complete
Indexes and abstracts hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world. Covers all fields of the humanities. Excellent for interdisciplinary topics. Can limit to articles written in English, French, or Spanish, etc.
Literature Resource Center (Gale)
Provides information on 135,000 authors from all time periods and genres, including drama, fiction, poetry, history, journalism, and more.
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Contains full-text articles, essays, and reviews from journals and magazines; overviews of frequently studied works; and poems, stories, and plays. Much of the content was originally published in such Gale series as Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Short Story Criticism, etc.

Multi-Disciplinary Databases

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)
Comprehensive multi-disciplinary database with full-text coverage of over 8,800 periodicals, including more than 7,700 peer-reviewed journals.
Electronic Journal Center (OhioLINK)
OhioLINK's collection of more than 10,000 academic journals.
JSTOR
JSTOR provides complete electronic backfiles of core journals in a variety of subjects. Full text coverage begins with the first issue of each journal and usually ends about five years before the present.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
A component of the Web of Science database platform, covering a full range of disciplines within the arts and humanities. Includes complete indexing of over 2,300 journals.

Open-access journals on the Web

Note: The Library databases' full-text coverage of Stage Directions goes back farther than the website's own archives.

Finding Reviews

See directions on the bottom center of this page for finding reviews using the New York Times online with the AU Library microfilm collection.

Newspaper Source
Provides cover-to-cover full text for more than 40 domestic and international newspapers, including USA Today, Washington Post, and Times (London). Contains selective full text for 370 regional domestic newspapers, Ohio included. Also contains full-text tv and radio news transcripts.

Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Provides contextual information and opinion on hundreds of current social issues
Drawing on the Greenhaven Press series and frequently updated, it provides viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text articles (from magazines, academic journals, and newspapers), primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites. (Gale)

Reference Databases

Oxford Reference: Performing Arts
Full text of Oxford University Press dictionaries and encyclopedias, including three on the performing arts. Of the several hundred reference works listed on the site more than 60 are accessible based on purchase by OhioLINK. Accessible content is indicated with an open padlock.

Archer Library

Theatre Resources: Databases