LibGuides: Drama: Home

Specialist Resources

Library subscribed resources

BBC Shakespeare Archive
Over 900 programmes from the BBC’s archive of Shakespeare’s plays, poems and sonnets.
Digital Theatre+
A comprehensive collection of professionally filmed performances, documentaries, interviews, and educational materials related to theatre, dance, and the performing arts. With a diverse range of classical plays, contemporary works, musicals, and dance performances from around the world, users can immerse themselves in the captivating world of live theatre through the platform's high-quality recordings.
Training videos for Students
Accessibility Statement
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text
Provides access to over 60,000 journal articles, books, book chapters and dissertation abstracts covering various aspects of theatre and performance.

Accessibility Statement
JSTOR
A digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources, good for arts and humanities. Content is searchable on Library Search too.

Accessibility Statement
Project Muse
A library of digital humanities and social sciences content; includes journals and books on film, theatre and performing arts. Content can be found via Library Search too.

Accessibility Statement
PsycINFO

An abstract database that provides systematic coverage of the psychological literature from the 1800s to the present. The database also includes records from the 1600s and 1700s.

Accessibility Statement

Cultural heritage resources

Black Plays Archive
The Black Plays Archive is an online catalogue of the first professional production in the UK of plays written by Black British, African, and Caribbean playwrights.

Within the Black Plays Archive (BPA), users can search for productions, listen to audio extracts of plays, watch interviews with playwrights and browse our resources for teachers.
Future Histories
Future Histories is a cultural heritage organisation and independent archive for African, Asian and Caribbean performing arts in the UK. Currently housed at Goldsmiths, University of London, Future Histories archives include more than fifty productions.
Unfinished Histories - Recording the history of Alternative Theatre, 1968 -88
Recording the history of Alternative Theatre, 1968 -88, through interviews and the collecting of archive material. Companies involved were among some of the first Black, Asian, lesbian, gay, women’s, disabled, political, experimental, TIE and community-based theatre groups seen in Britain. Work ranged from experiments in physical and visual theatre or performance art, to vernacular drama, agit-prop and satire, championing a generation of artists whose work has influenced and shaped present day theatre.

General Resources

Gale Primary Sources
Tool to search all of our subscribed Gale primary sources, incorporating 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection; 19th Century UK Periodicals; British Library Newspapers, 1800-1900; Daily Mail Historical Archive; The Financial Times Historical Archive; The Illustrated London News Historical Archive' Picture Post Historical Archive; and, The Times Digital Archive.

Accessibility Statement
International Newsstream
Comprehensive access to news stories and other content from newspapers across the globe. Includes The Guardian (1821-2003) and Observer (1791-2003) archives.

Accessibility Statement
Lexis+ UK Newspapers
Archive of full text news articles from a range of UK national and regional newspapers. Updated daily.
Please note: Authorised Users do not include internal legal department employees or employees who perform an in-house legal function.

Accessibility Statement
Library Hub Discover
Online access to the catalogues of almost 120 UK and Irish academic, national & specialist libraries, hosted by Jisc. Incorporates the former Copac and SUNCAT services.

Accessibility Statement
Privacy Statement
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The national record of significant, influential or notorious figures who shaped British history. The Dictionary offers concise, up-to-date biographies written by named, specialist authors.

Accessibility Statement
Oxford English Dictionary
A guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both past and present.

Accessibility Statement
Scopus
A large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature from more than 18,500 journals.
If you are having trouble accessing Scopus or other Elsevier products such as SciVal or Knovel please try the following:
1. Use Incognito or Preview mode in a browser
2. Try another browser
3. Clear cache and cookies:
If you're still having issues please submit a case via the the Scopus Support Centre

Accessibility Statement
Privacy policy

Introduction

This a Library guide for students studying Drama, Theatre and Performance.

Here you will find resources related to this subject area and guidance on literature searching.

Recently added to stock:

Devising theatre and performance: Curious methods by Leslie Hill and Helen Paris
ISBN: 9781789384710

Publication Date: 2021

Provides a treasure-trove of performance exercises for performance-makers, educators and students as they develop their creative practice.
How plays work by David Edgar
ISBN: 9781839040313

Publication Date: 2021

Examines the mechanisms and techniques which dramatists throughout the ages have employed to structure their plays and to express their meaning. Written for playwrights and playgoers alike, in this revised edition, Edgar brings the book right up to date with analyses of many recent plays, as well as explorations of emerging genres and new innovations in playwriting practice.
Theatre and dramaturgy by Zoë Svendsen
ISBN: 9781350332485

Publication Date: 2023

This concise study examines how western histories and practices of theatre have functioned to achieve their effects, through understanding dramaturgy as the arrangement or structure of the work in time and space - both at the fictional level and in relation to performance. Exploring the relationship between plays and their meaning in production, this guide focuses on how understanding dramaturgy is critical to understanding how plays achieve their effects.

Quick Links

Library Search
Our search engine for finding print and online resources
Using the Library
Further guidance on our web pages
When is the library open?
Library Glossary
Some definitions of words we use in Computing & Library Services
Disability Support guide
AI guide
A guide to using artificial intelligence (AI) in your academic studies.
Referencing
A guide to the APA 7th style, which is the official University referencing standard
Book a group study room
Where can I get help?
Book an appointment with a librarian
If you need an in depth appointment with a librarian, use this link to book one.
ebooks
Guide to using ebooks at the University of Huddersfield
Newspapers
Guide to newspaper resources online
Inter library loans
How to request items not held at our University Library
Suggest a book
Form to request Library purchases a book not already in stock
Using other Libraries
How to visit other libraries, including using the SCONUL scheme

Drama

Specialist Resources

Training videos for Students

General Resources

Introduction

Quick Links