Theatre
Finding Plays
The major online source for plays is Black Drama. For finding plays in print in the WMU Libraries, search for "Books and Media" in Library Search.
- Black Drama: Third Edition (Alexander Street) This link opens in a new window
Black Drama: Third Edition contains the full-text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. Over 40 percent of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays by writers such as Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Amiri Baraka, Randolph Edmonds, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.
Play Reviews
Reviews of specific play productions may also be useful. Click on the Play Reviews tab above for sources for reviews.
Related Guides
See these guides for more sources for plays, play reviews, and literary criticism.
African American Theatre
This guide will direct you to resources related to African American Theatre.
Resources under the general tabs above may also be useful, particularly: Dictionaries & Encyclopedias; Articles; Books; Audio, Video & Images; Play Reviews; Citing Sources/Style Guides; and Interlibrary Loan.
Books
Books about African-American Theatre are located at call number PN 2270 .A35 in Waldo Library.
Finding Information about Plays and Authors
These are some primary databases for finding articles and other sources. Note the search hint for each.
You may also use Power Search -- see box at left.
- Gale Literary Sources (Gale Literature) This link opens in a new window
Gale Literary Sources brings together Literature Resource Center, Literature Criticism, Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, LitFinder, and Something About the Author into a single cross searchable platform.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
This database provides coverage of dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, and more, indexes more than 250 performing arts journals and provides full-text for more than 100 journals. Coverage varies.
- Literature Online (LION)Go into Criticism & Reference section. Use an author's name in the Author/Subject box and/or a play title in the Keyword box.
African American Resources
Two primary resources related to the African American experience and culture are listed below. See the Africana/African American Studies subject guide for similar resources.
- Black Studies Center (formerly Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
This multimedia database contains essays and articles, a timeline, videos, and images of the African experience throughout the Americas. This database is cross-searchable with journals, newspapers, dissertations, and other relevant content including the International Index to Black Periodicals Full-Text, the Black Literature Index, and the Chicago Defender.
- Black Thought and Culture (Alexander Street) This link opens in a new window
A digital collection of monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews by leaders within the black community.