English Language and Literature Subject Guide
Plays
17 resources available
- Restricted to WMU users 
- Open Access
If you know the playwright's name, check under Author in the library catalog.If you know the title of the play, check under title. If you're not sure about the title try a keyword search with words you think are in the title. Keyword searches also find plays listed in the table of contents of some books, which contain collections of plays.
If these searches fail, consult the following indexes. Ask at the Reference Desk if you need assistance.
American Drama (1714-1915) Containing more than 1,500 dramatic works from the early eighteenth century up to the beginning of the twentieth, American Drama reflects American dramatic writing in all its richness and diversity: plays in verse, farces, melodramas, minstrel shows, realist plays, frontier plays, temperance dialogues and a range of other genres are represented. Major dramatists featured include Clyde Fitch, Augustin Daly, David Belasco, James Herne and Joaquin Miller.
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Asian American Drama Full text of 252 plays by 42 playwrights, with information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. Also included: selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays.
Best Plays
PN 6112 .B45 (Ref)
Contains synopses and excerpts from each season's prize-winning plays and production data from all Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions, as well as some data about plays produced elsewhere in the U.S. 1952-present. 1899-1947 in General Stacks.
Black Drama Full text of more than 1,300 plays from the mid-1800s to the present written by 200 African or African-American playwrights. Each play is indexed by keyword and by numerous subjects. Enhanced by reference materials, ancillary information and images.
Chicorel Theater Index
Z 5781 .C485 (Ref)
Indexes plays by both title and author. Once you have located a book that contains the play you want you need to look in WestCat, the Libraries' catalog, to see if we own that book.
Complete Works of William Shakespeare"...the Web's first edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare." Based on the Complete Moby (tm) Shakespeare. Complete works can be searched.
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.DPS is one of the major publishers and licensers of plays. Use the Playfinder feature to find availability and information about play scripts (librettos), scores, and other publications. Items are for sale but may also be available through interlibrary loan. DPS' play catalogues may also be downloaded as PDF files (click on "Catalogues").
Dramatists' Play Service Complete Catalogue of Plays
Z 5785 .Z9 .D73 (Ref Desk Collection)
This catalog lists copies of plays that are used by actors as scripts. We own a few of these books in our collection; others can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan.
Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare Contains eleven major editions of Shakespeare from the First Folio of 1623 to the Cambridge edition of 1863-6 as well as more than one hundred adaptations, sequels and burlesques from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
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English Drama (1280-1915) A combination of Chadwyck-Healey's English Verse Drama and English Prose Drama full-text databases. 4,000 plays by 1,200 authors from the late thirteenth century to the early twentieth century.
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Index to Plays in Periodicals
Z 5781 .K43 1990 (Ref)
If you find a play in this index you need to search WestCat, the Libraries' catalog, to see if we own the periodical in which the play is printed or use Interlibrary Loan to get a photocopy of the play from a library that owns that periodical.
Latino Literature Contains more than 100,00 pages of poetry, fiction and drama by Chicano, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican and other Latin writers working in the United States. Includes almost 400 plays.
LitFinder Contains over 125,000 full text poems, and a few short stories, essays, and plays. Biographies of the authors are included and over 800,000 more poems are cited.
North American Women's Drama Over 1,500 plays by 330 playwrights, with detailed information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. 30% of the plays have not been published before. Also included: selected playbills, production photographs, and other ephemera related to the plays.
Play Index Index to over 30,000 plays published individually or in collections from 1949 to date. Search by title, author, subject, style, genre, cast type, specific number of male/female roles, appropriate for specific ages, and more. Over 500 monologues are available for auditions or course assignments. Links to full text when available, or to the library catalog, if in a book or collection. You may need to use Interlibrary Loan to get a copy of the anthology if we do not own it.
Print - Z 5781 .P53 (Ref)
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Samuel French Basic Catalogue of Plays and Musicals
Z 5785 .Z9 F8 (Ref Desk Collection)
This catalog lists copies of plays that are used by actors as scripts. We own a few of these books in our collection; others can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan.
Theatre in Video Streaming video of over 250 definitive performances of major plays and more than 100 film documentaries.