Music/Drama Library
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Find a Play
Table of Contents
Find Plays in HOMER (Search Strategies)
Search HOMER, the
library catalog, to identify playscripts owned by the UConn Libraries.
Here is basic information on How
to Search HOMER (PDF). The table below has specific strategies for
finding plays.
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Type of Search
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Example
(you type)
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Search Tips
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Finds
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Author
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hansberry lorraine
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Type last name first. First name/initial opt. |
A list of plays or books by Hansberry (it won't find
all of them though) |
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Title
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raisin in the sun
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Type exact title. Omit initial article: the, a, an.
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A list of plays or books entitled Raisin in the
Sun (it won't find all of them) |
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Keyword (Boolean)
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hansberry and raisin
(This search is helpful if you have only partial
author/title information.)
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Type key words from author, title, publisher, etc. Use "and"
between terms. Enclose adjacent terms in quotation marks.
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A list of items containing both terms in the catalog
record. These may include play anthologies that contain your
search terms in contents notes. (Author and title searches omit
these.) May also retrieve some books about the play. |
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Subject Heading
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american drama
(Use this search to browse
by genre, especially if you do not know the author or title.)
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You must type the correct terms in exact order. Here
is a guide to Dramatic
Arts Subject Headings (PDF) |
Anthologies containing American plays and (some) scenes.
Also finds scholarship and bibliographies. (Do NOT use this search
to find plays by specific playwrights.) |
When you find an item, write down its call number and location and
make sure it is not checked out. If you are in the Babbidge Library,
use a library stacks
guide to locate the item. Most Music/Drama Library scripts are located
on that library's basement level.
Didn't find the item? Try the play indexes (to
identify anthologies with plays), consult a librarian,
or consider buying the script.
Related Information
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Locate Plays in Anthologies (Using Play Indexes)
Some individual plays do not appear in HOMER. They are instead quietly
published in anthologies or periodicals (some of these anthologies focus
on a particular topic, playwright, or period). To find these "hidden"
plays, you must consult a play index that lists the contents of anthologies.
How to Use a Play Index
1. Select an index (listed below) and look up
your play in it.
Example: use the
Play Index to look up Mamet's play, All Men Are Whores.
2. Note the title of an anthology containing your play.
Example: The 1983/87
volume of Play Index indicates that All Men Are Whores
is published in a Mamet anthology entitled Goldberg Street:
Short Plays and Monologues.
Note: instead of an anthology title, you might see a
"code" (for example, "MMB"). Look up the
code at the front of the book. In this case, MMB stands for
Masters of Modern Drama.
3. Look up the anthology's title in HOMER.
Example: HOMER
finds Goldberg Street (Babbidge Library PS 3563 .A4345
G65 1985).
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- Inter-Play
Online index to plays
in collections, anthologies, and periodicals and in a variety of languages.
Contains approximately 16,130 citations to plays. More
information about Inter-Play. From Portland State University.
- Play Index. Babbidge & Music/Drama Ref Z 5781 .P53 (several
volumes)
Comprehensive coverage.
Each volume represents a range of years. Check each volume (unless
your play was recently published). The back part of the volume
lists plays by cast analysis (# of characters of men, women, boys,
girls and extras needed, and dialect).
- Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections: An Author and Title
Index to Plays Appearing in Collections Published between 1900 and 1985.
Babbidge and Music/Drama Ref. PN1655 .O8 1988.
Goes back further than
the Play Index.
- Playwright's Union of Canada Searchable
database includes over 1,600 contemporary scripts.
- Small-Cast One-Act Guide Online
Based in UK. One-act scripts by playwrights worldwide for four or fewer
actors in many languages, and related material. Includes source directory
for scripts, cast breakdowns, etc.
- For other print bibliographies and indexes of plays, see Ron Blazek's
The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources (Babbidge
Ref. AZ 221 B553 1994), as well as Yale's guide to Plays
Lists and Indexes. For example, they would point you to these indexes:
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1/2/3/4 for the Show: A Guide to Small-cast One-act Plays.
By Lewis W. Heniford. PN 6120.O5 H46 1995 Music Ref. and Babbidge
Ref. Indexes small cast (up to four actors) one-act plays. Has
a good bibliography plus script analyses for eighty plays.
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Chicorel Theater Index to Plays in Anthologies and Collections:
1970-1976. Also known as the Theatre Index. By Marietta
Chicorel. Babbidge Reference Z 5781 .C4846.
- Drury's Guide to Best Plays. By James M. Salem. Z 5781
.D8 1987 Babbidge Ref. Includes cast index, selected subjects, prize
winners, and popular plays for high schools and amateur groups.
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Index to Children's Plays in Collections, 1975-1984. By
Beverly Robin Trefny and Eileen C. Palmer. Babbidge Reference
PN 1627 .T73 1986.
- Index to Plays in Periodicals, 1977-1987. By Dean H. Keller.
Z 5781 .K43 1990 Babbidge Ref.
Also consult Web sites for buying a script or
full-text plays on the Internet (listed below).
[top]
Buy a Script
If you cannot find the script in the library, or you want your
own copy, try the following resources.
- Bookstores,
Publishers, and Licensing Organizations (from VASTA)
-- Very good list of stores and Web sites that sell or license playscripts.
Also see Used, Rare,
and Remaindered Books.
- Dooley's.com:
Character (Cast Number) Search -- Online guide to modern playwrights
and theatre plays. Includes a search for plays by number/type of cast
members.
- Dramatists
Play Service -- Search or browse thousands of plays at this major
play-licensing agency for the English-speaking theatre.
- Samuel French, Inc. --
French's catalog includes monologues, audition material, classroom guides,
classic works, and the latest plays from the professional theater.
- Try some of the popular online bookstores (e.g., Amazon).
Request A Library Purchase
Contact the music/drama
librarian or use this request
form. Your input benefits future generations and helps build library
collections.
[top]
Full-Text Plays on the Internet
Also consult play indexes on the Web (listed
above).
- 19th Century
Playtext Database
- American
Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920.
From the Library of Congress.
- Association
for Hispanic Classical Theatre: complete text of classical Spanish
plays.
- Center for Electronic Texts
in the Humanities (at Rutgers University)
- Complete
Works of William Shakespeare (at MIT)
- Dramatic Exchange A site where
playwrights can post their otherwise unpublished scripts.
- ELAC TheatrePedia
(from East Los Angeles College Theatre Arts) Alphabetical lists of plays
and playwrights, including pointers to some full-text resources.
- Electronic Text Archives
and Plays Online (from WWW Virtual
Library-Theatre and Drama Resources) Free service for playwrights
and readers. Indexes other full-text Web sites and provides server space
for some plays.
- EServer Drama Collection Classic
and contemporary works, organized by historical period. Includes screenplays.
- Internet Archive. Library of
Internet sites and cultural artifacts in digital form. Includes online
texts.
- The New Deal
Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project Collection, 1935-1939.
Created by the Library Congress. Contains playscripts from over seventy
productions of the Federal Theatre Project.
- Online Books Page
(Univ. of Pennsylvania). Includes plays, mostly in public domain. For
a list of online collections, see the archive
page.
- Online Medieval and Classical
Library (OMACL). Collection of some of the most important literary
works of Classical and Medieval civilization.
- Playwright's Union of Canada Searchable
database includes over 1,600 contemporary scripts.
- Small-Cast One-Act Guide Online
One-act scripts for four or fewer actors in many languages, and related
material.
- Yahoo:
Screenplays A list of Web sites with links to movie and TV scripts,
as well as movie monologues sites.
Screenplays:
- Drew's Scripts-O-Rama
Downloadable scripts. Free.
- Megahit Screenplays Site compromised as of 12/17/4. http://www.megahitmovies.com
- Script Shop Link compromised as of 12/17/4. http://www.scriptshop.com
- ScriptFly.com
- Simply Scripts Free,
downloadable scripts, screenplays, and transcripts. Current, classic,
and some forthcoming. Movies, television, anime, unproduced, and radio
shows.
- Buy scripts: Book City of Hollywood, CA. Tel: (323) 466 2525
This page was found at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/music/plays.html
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