Find Materials on Production History, Theater History, Criticism and Theory

Production histories can be found in a variety of places: in encyclopedias, websites, books, and through the review literature.

Search OneSearch (and WorldCat) for materials on theatre history in several several ways, such as by location (country, region), period, genre and movement. Notice in the following examples the different ways a subject heading might be constructed.

Consult Resources for History for guidance on general historical research.

Selected Books on Theatre History

Banham, M. (1995).The Cambridge guide to theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Banham, M. (2004). A history of theatre in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [ebook]

Brockett, O. G., & Hildy, F. J. (1999). History of the theatre. Boston, Mass: Allyn and Bacon.

Brown, J. R. (1995). The Oxford illustrated history of theatre. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Carlson, M. (1993). Theories of the theatre: A historical and critical survey from the Greeks to the present. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Ganzl, Kurt. The Encyclopedia of the musical theatre. New York: Schirmer, c.2001.

Gerould, D. C. (2000). Theatre, theory, theatre: The major critical texts from Aristotle and Zeami to Soyinka and Havel. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books.

Hartnoll, P., Found, P., & Oxford University Press. (1996). The concise Oxford companion to the theatre. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [ebook]  

Moody, J., & O'Quinn, D. (2007).The Cambridge companion to British theatre, 1730-1830. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Payne, F. D. (2000).The Cambridge companion to English Restoration theatre. Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press.

Shipley, J. T., & Shipley, J. T. (1984). The Crown guide to the world's great plays, from ancient Greece to modern times. New York: Crown Publishers.

Wilmeth, D. B., & Miller, T. L. (1993). Cambridge guide to American theatre. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press.

Wilson, E., & Goldfarb, A. (2008). Living theatre: History of the theatre. Boston, Mass: McGraw-Hill. [ebook]

Shipley, J. T., & Shipley, J. T. (1984). The Crown guide to the world's great plays, from ancient Greece to modern times. New York: Crown Publishers.

Locating reviews also locates dates and places of productions. After checking the script, enclyclopedias and websites for the obvious productions, check the following.