Theater and Film Resource Guide

Indexes to journal articles:          Web-based          Print Journals World Wide Web Sites Reference Books Books

College of St. Catherine Theater Department web site: http://minerva.stkate.edu/offices/academic/theater.nsf/pages/homepage

University of St. Thomas Theater Department web site: http://www.stthomas.edu/Theater/

Print Indexes

Music Index

Available on the Lower Level Index Shelves, ML 118 .M84

Coverage 1949-1978; 1987-1996

Play Index

Available in Reference, PN 2020 .W48

Coverage 1949/52 - present
Author, title, and subject index to separately published plays and plays in collections. Plays for children and young adults are indicated.

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Journal List

About off-campus access

The following journal titles are available in the CSC Library.
Index abbreviations are:

• Alt: Alternative Press Index (AI 3 .A27 on the Index Shelves)
• Art: Art Full Text
• A & H: Arts and Humanities Search (on FirstSearch; password required)
• ERIC: ERIC
• Hum: Humanities Index
• GR: General Reference Center (on InfoTrac)
• MLA: MLA Bibliography

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World Wide Web Sites

ELAC TheatrePedia: Internet Theatre Library

Put together by the East Los Angeles College Theatre Arts department, this comprehensive site has links for theater production and research. There is also an email question answer service.

A Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies

A comprehensive and well maintained list of theater resources. Created by Ken McCoy, professor at Stetson University.

World Wide Web Virtual Library: Theatre and Drama

Two unusual aspects of this site are a compilation of play texts online, and links for finding theater images.

Yahoo! Theatre Links

A general list of theater related links

Theatre Central: Sites

Hosted by Playbill On-Line, this page is aimed primarily for theater professionals. Links for information about theater companies, production companies, training, stagecraft, and unions.

ScreenSite

Links to film and television resources on the Web that emphasize teaching and research. Sponsored by the University of Alabama's College of Communication--Department of Telecommunication and Film.

Internet Movie Database

THE place on the internet to find information about films. Search movies and TV shows by title, cast, crew, character name, and others. There are links to awards & nominations, reviews, quotes, and production information.

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Reference Books

General Sources | Finding Plays | Biographical Information | Film

GENERAL SOURCES

International Dictionary of Theatre. Mark Hawkins-Dady, editor. St. James Press, 1992. 3 vols.
Ref. PN 2035 .I49 1992

Volume 1: Plays, Volume 2: Playwrights, Volume 3: Actors, Directors, and Designers
 

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. Stanley Hochman, editor. McGraw-Hill, 1984. 5 vols.
Ref. PN 1625 .M3 1984

Articles on regional, national, and ethnic-linguistic drama. Individual dramatists are also included.
 

Critical Survey of Drama. Frank N. Magill, editor. Salem Press, 1994. 7 vols.
Ref. PR 623 .C75 1994

Volumes 1-6 cover 240 dramatists. Each entry contains a biography, analysis of the dramatist's work, and a bibliography. Volume 7 is a collection of essays on different aspects of drama.
 

The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, new edition. Martin Banham. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995.
Ref. PN 2035 .C27 1995
 

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre (via Oxford Reference Online)
 

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, 2nd edition. Gerald Bordman. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992.
Ref. PN 2220 .B6 1992 (or access online at Oxford Reference Online)
 

The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. Colin Chambers, editor. Continuum, 2002.
Ref. PN 2035 .C65 2002

 

Theatre Backstage from A to Z, 4th edition. Norman C. Boulanger. Univ. of Washington Press, 1999.
Ref. 2091 .M3 L68 1999

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FINDING PLAYS

Play Index. 1949/52 - present
Ref. PN 2020 .W48

Author, title, and subject index to separately published plays and plays in collections. Plays for children and young adults are indicated.
 

Best Plays of .... 1952 - present
PN 6112 .B45
 

Best American Short Plays. 1955 - present
PN 6111 .B47
 

Women Playwrights: the Best Plays of .... 1993 - present
PS 628 .W6 w668
 

Drury's Guide to Best Plays, 4th edition. James M. Salem. Scarecrow Press, 1987.
Ref. PN 1655 .D8 1987
 

Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections, 7th edition. Scarecrow Press, 1988.
Ref. PN 1655 .O8 1988

Includes play collections published from 1900-1985 in the U.S. and England.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. Gale, 1984-present
Ref. PN 2208 .C6

This source, published annually, contains brief biographical information.
 

Contemporary Dramatists, 4th edition. D.L. Kirkpatrick, editor. St. James Press, 1988.
Ref. PR 737 .C57 1988

Comprehensive biographical essays on living playwrights.
 

Notable Women in the American Theatre: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press, 1989.
Ref. PN 2285 .N65 1989

American Women Playwrights, 1900-1950. Yvonne Shafer. Peter Lang, 1995.br> Ref. PS 338 .W6 S48 1995

Lengthy essays on over 30 American women playwrights.
 

Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers. Bernard L. Peterson. Greenwood Press, 1990.
Ref. PS 153 .N5 P44 1990

Covers playwrights before 1950
 

African Americans in the Performing Arts. Steven Otfinoski. Facts on File, 2003.
Ref. PN 2286 .O88 2003
 

A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. Philip H. Highfill, Jr., Kalman A. Burnim and Edward A. Langhans. Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1973-1993. 16 vols.
Ref. PN 2597 .H5
 

Dictionary of Literary Biography.
Ref. PS 21 .D5

Each volume in this series presents biographical essays and bibliographies for a particular group of literary figures. Volumes of interest to theater are:

• 7, 228, 249, 266: Twentieth Century American Dramatists
• 10: Modern British Dramatists 1900-1945
• 13, 233, 245: British and Irish Dramatists Since World War II
• 38: Afro-American Writers After 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers
• 58: Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists
• 62: Elizabethan Dramatists
• 80, 84, 89: Restoration and Eighteenth Century Dramatists
• 118, 124: Twentieth Century German Dramatists
• 192: French Dramatists 1789-1914
• 205: Russian Literature in the Age of Puskin and Gogol: Poetry and Drama
• 229: Thomas Wolfe
• 263: William Shakespeare

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FILM

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. St. James Press, 1997. 4 vols.
Ref. PN 1997.8 I58 1997

Volume 1: Films, Volume 2: Directors, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, Volume 4: Writers and Production Artists
 

Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. Routledge, 2001.
Ref PN 1993.45 .C75 2001

 

The Film Studies Dictionary. Arnold, 2001.
Ref. PN 1993.45 .B53 2001

 

Magill's Cinema Annual. Salem Press, 1992 - present.
Ref. PN 1993.3 M34

Listing of U.S. and foreign films released each year. For each it gives plot, credits, awards and nominations, and reviews.
 

The Film Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Ephraim Katz. Harper Perennial, 1994.
Ref. PN 1993.45 .K34 1994

 

Forbidden Films: censorship histories of 125 motion pictures. Dawn Sova. Facts on File, 2001.
Ref PN 1995.62 .S67 2001

 

Film It with Music: an encyclopedic guide to the American movie musical. Thomas Hischak. Greenwood, 2001.
Ref PN 1995.9 .M86 H57 2001

 

A Biographical Dictionary of Film, 3rd edition. David Thompson. Knopf, 1994.
PN 1998.2 .T49 1994

 

Contemporary North American Film Directors. Wallflower, 2002.
Ref. PN 1998.2 .C68 2002

 

Women Filmmakers & Their Films. Amy L. Unterburger, editor. St. James Press, 1998.
Ref. PN 1998.2 W66 1998
 

Dictionary of Literary Biography
Ref. PS 21 .D5

Volumes 26 and 44 contain biographical essays and bibliographies for American screenwriters

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Books

Books in CLICnet, the Library's online catalog, are assigned subjects based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).  If you are having trouble, you may wish to consult LCSH for subject headings appropriate to your topic.  The books are located behind the Reference Desk.

Browsing shelf areas relevant to your topic can be a useful strategy.  Books in the Reference and circulating collections are shelved in general subject categories according to the Library of Congress classification system.  Below is a brief listing of some of the shelf locations in the fields of theater and film.
 

GT 500 - GT 2370	Costumes
MT 956	Acting in Opera
NA 6820 - NA 6845	Theaters (Architecture)
PN 1720 - PN 1861	Drama History
PN 1995	Film Criticism
PN 1997	Screenplays
PN 2000 - PN 3299	Theater
PN 6110.5 - PN 6120	Drama -- Collections
PR 621 - PR 739	English Drama
PS 623 - PS 634	American Drama (U.S.)
TK 4399 .T6	Theater Lighting

For assistance with any of the resources in this guide, or for help doing research in theater or film, contact:
Deborah Kloiber, Reference Librarian
651.690.6599     dkloiber@stkate.edu

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