Theatre Research Guide: Find a Play
Find a Play
- New Play ExchangeThe New Play Exchange, a National New Play Network project, is the world’s largest digital library of scripts by living writers. Designed and built with the needs of the entire new play sector in mind, the New Play Exchange serves writers, producers, directors, artistic directors, literary managers, dramaturgs, publishers, agents, actors, professors, students, and even fans of the theater.
Other Sources for Books and Screenplays
Please note that if you identify a book that is not available in the UNO Library Catalog, you may request it through Interlibrary Loan.
- WorldCat This link opens in a new windowPlease note that if you identify a book that is not available in the UNO Library Catalog, you may request it through Interlibrary Loan.
- Google BooksSearch the full-text of over 10 million books. Content availability varies.
Plays & Monologues in the UNO Library
How to find a Play
You can search the UNO Catalog to see if the library owns a copy of specific play. First try a simple title or author search. If the play is published alone as a separate book this should work. If a play is published as part of a collection, you may need to do a keyword search in order to locate the title. Choose keyword search and type in key words from the play's title (example: streetcar and desire).
The following sources also index plays in anthologies and collections:
You can search the UNO Catalog to see if the library owns a copy of specific play. First try a simple title or author search. If the play is published alone as a separate book this should work. If a play is published as part of a collection, you may need to do a keyword search in order to locate the title. Choose keyword search and type in key words from the play's title (example: streetcar and desire).
The following sources also index plays in anthologies and collections:
-
Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections REF. PN1654.Z99 O8 1988 (This work, subtitled "An Author and Title Index to Plays Appearing in Collections Published Between 1900 and 1985" allows you to look up a play title and get the name of the anthology or collection in which it is published.)
- Other Indexes to Plays in Anthologies and Collections:
- Play Index (1949-1992) REF. PN1654.Z99 P5
- The Drama Scholars' Index to Plays and Filmscripts: A Guide to Plays and Filmscripts in Selected Anthologies, Series, and Periodicals (includes some 18th and 19th century texts) PN1654.Z99 S23
- Index to Full Length Plays PN1654.Z99 T462 (2 volumes cover 1895-1964)
To identify a play with a certain number of characters by gender, you can use the PlayFinder database from Dramatists Play Service. Once you identify a play you want, search the UNO Catalog (as described above) to see if the UNO Library owns a copy.
How to find a Monologue
- UNO Catalog
You can search the UNO Catalog for collections of monologues in the library. Just type in the keyword or subject "monologues" and add other keywords as needed. Many of the monologue books are at PN 2080.
