Drama 120--004: Play Analysis, Fall 2017 (Prof. Adam Versenyi): Production Reviews
Advice on Finding Production Reviews
Finding production reviews for different productions of the same play performed over time and in different locations can be challenging. There will generally be more reviews of English language plays that are performed in New York and London, although there will also be reviews for other major cities. Finding reviews of local or regional productions may be more difficult.
- First determine when your play was written/first produced, for that will determine which sources covering which time periods may have reviews. For example, Buried Child was written/first produced in 1978, so you would not look in sources before that date.
- Full text databases of newspapers and periodicals have greatly enhanced the availability of play reviews, but sometimes print sources that reprint reviews or index reviews around specific productions (see below) are easier to use.
- Sometimes A Wikipedia article (Caveat emptor) will provide a history of performance/production for a major play.
Newspaper & Periodicals Databases
- Articles PlusIndex to hundreds of millions electronic resources, including journal and newspaper articles, e-books, dissertations, and media in campus library collections.
- Proquest CentralA general reference database for over 175 subjects from magazines, journals and newspapers, including peer-reviewed and scholarly works.
- Academic Search PremierFind information on academic areas of business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science, education and multi-cultural topics; resource provides access to major popular and scholarly journals with many full-text articles.
- America's NewsAmerica's News is the most comprehensive U.S.newspaper resource available. It provides information on people, issues, and events in the local area or around the country. Updated daily, America's Newspapers offers tens of millions of current and archived full-text articles from newspapers nationwide in a single, fully searchable online database. It includes the complete electronic editions of 827 newspapers - with 75% of these sources not available in any other library database.
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersSearch hundreds of thousands of pages of full-text and full-image newspaper articles. Includes news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements; historical photos, graphics, and advertisements are also included; display the complete image of any page in any issue or browse the database to scan individual issues page by page.
- Readers' Guide RetrospectiveOffers indexing of over 500 popular periodicals and magazines for a period of over 100 years. From the presidency of Benjamin Harrison to the election of Ronald Reagan, from the Spanish-American War to the Cold War, from the "robber barons" to the oil embargoes, the Readers' Guide provides access to articles chronicling the daily lives and the momentous events of America in the 20th century.
- Times (London) Digital ArchiveDigital archive (1785-2019) of the British daily national newspaper, also know as The London Times and The Times of London. Please note that online coverage of The Times after the end date in this archive is available in several sources. Click here for more details.
- Gale Primary Sources: British Library NewspapersA collection of national, regional, and local newspapers from Britain (1732-1950) and Ireland (1797-1950), sourced from the British Library.
- British PeriodicalsBritish Periodicals I and II includes the searchable full text and facsimile page images of 500 periodicals published between 1681 and 1921, a significant time not only for British history, but, given the growth and dominance of the British Empire for most of that period, world history. British Periodicals III extends the scope of British Periodicals by focusing on the first half of the twentieth century. All of this content is available in full page images with searchable full text.
Sources that Reprint Production Reviews
- London Theatre Record (1981-90)/Theatre Record (1991-2012) [Print]A useful source that often reprints multiple reviews of individual productions from a variety of British sources. Use the separate Cumulative Index for the period 1981-2005 and Annual Indexes post 2005.
- The New York times theater reviews [Print]These reviews should be available online via ProQuest Historical (above), but sometimes the print is easier to use.
- New York theatre critics' reviews/National theatre critics' reviews 1940 -96 [Print]Reprints reviews from other New York publications.
Bibliographies that Track U.S. Productions & Reviews
- A guide to critical reviewsA very useful guide to New York productions of American and foreign plays for the dates indicated.
Part 1, American Drama 1909-1982
Part 2, The Musical 1909-1989
Part 3, Foreign Drama 1909-1977
Important Theatre Journals
Theatre Blogs
Connect with us
