Research Guides: THEA 306: American Theatre: Articles

Other Options

For broader thematic and historical context searches, try some of the following tools:

America: History & Life with Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Subject: History
Content/Description: Covers the world's scholarly literature by providing journal articles and book excerpts on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada as far back as 1910.
Historical Abstracts (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
Subject: History
Content/Description: Provides scholarly journal articles covering world history from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
Sociology Database (ProQuest) [1985-Present] This link opens in a new window
Subject: Sociology
Content/Description: Provides full-text coverage of many core titles included in Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts.
Psychology Database (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Subject: Psychology
Content/Description: Contains abstracts and some full-text articles.

International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance

International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text This link opens in a new window

This database will give you citations and some full text for theatre-related publications in the popular, professional, and some scholarly literature.

If the initial results after searching your play and playwright feel unwieldy, consider narrowing down by following the link on your play's name in the "Reviews and Products" section.

This is better to do for the production, rather than looking for a heading for your playwright, as their names aren't as consistently listed as headings.

Want to start searching for production reviews? Add the word review to your source. IBTD includes reviews from major theatre review sources like New York Times, Backstage, Variety, Theatre Record, Village Voice, and the New Yorker.

MLA Bibliography

MLA International Bibliography (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window

MLA Bibliography is the strongest tool in the library's collection for locating scholarly material on plays. In it, you will find citations for scholarly journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations.

Tips for Searching

A good place to start your search is with the name of the playwright and the play. Since MLA Bibliography is an international database, you might also want to limit your results to English.
Curious how themes might be addressed in theatre scholarship, even if it doesn't discuss your play? Construct a search with the following specific search structure:

MLA just has the citations for articles and books, so if you see something you are interested in, use the "Find Full Text" link to check and see if we own it. If it is something we don't have, you can use the "Request via InterLibrary Loan" link to order it from another library. Please allow 1-2 weeks for these to arrive.
Having difficulty figuring out how to locate an article you found in MLA Bibliography? Stop by and ask at the Research Help Desk or email the citation to hronchek@hope.edu. I'm happy to help find it!