Indexes to Text of Plays

There are three straight-forward approaches to locating the text of a play using the Library Catalog.

Enter the title or author in the library catalog.
Do a "KEYWORD anywhere" search in the library catalog. For many anthologies of plays, the library catalog provides access to "contents notes." Only the "KEYWORD anywhere" search will retrieve these texts listed in the library catalog.
Check one of the titles below, or similar ones located near these, to determine if the play is located in an anthology that does not have "contents notes" in our catalog. (Older anthologies do not have contents notes nor do annuals such as The Best Plays of [the year]).

ready ref PN 1655.P530
Play Index. New York: Wilson, 1953 to date.

Indexing many anthologies and listing individual publications of plays published 1949 to date, this index is the first tool to use to locate a play not found in the library catalog. In addition to the expected author and title indexes, this set also indexes by subject and cast of characters (mixed cast, female, male, and number of each). Included is a one or two sentence summary of the play.

ready ref PN1655.O880 1988
Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections: An Author and Title Index to Plays Appearing in Collections Published between 1900 and 1985. 7th ed., rev. and enl. Metuchen, NJ: 1988.

Provides author and title indexes to 1,350 anthologies published between 1900 and 1985 containing 6,548 plays.

ref PN 1627.K37 1991
Karp, Rashelle S. and June H. Schlessinger. Plays for Children and Young Adults: An Evaluative Index and Guide. New York: Garland, 1991; Supplement, 1996.

Arranged alphabetically by title, the following information is listed for each play: author, number of cast by sex, settings, summary of the plot, recommendation about the play, playing time, source for obtaining the play, and subjects covered by the play. Appropriate indexes are included.

North American Theatre Online

Contains the text of approximately 5,000 North American plays.

Sample information page about TINY ALICE :

http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.plays.aspx?playcode=PL009624

Early American Imprints Series I (1639-1800) Early American Imprints Series II (1801-1819)

Series I provides the digitized texts of all known existing books, pamphlets, and broadsides printed in America from 1639 through 1800, including playbills and texts of plays. Series II provides the same type of digitized texts for 1801-1819.

Dramatists Play Service: The Play Finder

This publisher's catalog website allows searching of plays by cast (sex and number) and by type of play (full length, short, or musicals), as well as by title and author. Search results produce a list of plays meeting the searcher's specified criteria and display a brief summary of the play. The UNCG Library owns most of these plays published by Dramatists Play Service.

Page Author: Nancy Fogarty
Theatre Librarian