Find a Play
Topics Covered
- How to Find Plays in HOMER
- Locate Plays in Anthologies (Use Play Indexes)
- Borrow From Another Library (It's Delivered Free!)
- Buy a Script or Request a Library Purchase
- Full-Text Plays on the Internet (and Screenplays)
How to Find Plays in HOMER
Search HOMER, the library catalog, to identify playscripts owned by the UConn Libraries. The table below has specific strategies for finding plays.
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Type of Search
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Example
(you type) |
Search Tips
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Finds
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Author
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hansberry lorraine
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Type last name first. First name/initial opt. | A list of plays or books by Hansberry (it won't find all of them though) |
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Title
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raisin in the sun
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Type exact title. Omit initial article: the, a, an. | A list of plays or books entitled Raisin in the Sun (it won't find all of them) |
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Keyword
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hansberry raisin
(This search is helpful if you have only partial author/title information.) |
Type key words from author, title, publisher, etc. (If you select the Keyword Boolean, use "and" between terms.) |
A list of items containing both terms in the catalog record. These may include play anthologies that contain your search terms in contents notes. (Author and title searches omit these.) May also retrieve some books about the play. |
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Subject Heading
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american drama
(Use this search to browse by genre, especially if
you do not know the author or title.)
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You must type the correct terms in exact order. Here is a guide to Dramatic Arts Subject Headings (PDF) | Anthologies containing American plays and (some) scenes. Also finds scholarship and bibliographies. (Do NOT use this search to find plays by specific playwrights.) |
When you find an item, write down its call number and
location and double check HOMER to make sure it is not checked out. If
you are in the Babbidge Library, use a library stacks guide to
locate the item. Most Music/Drama Library scripts are
located on that library's basement level.
Didn't find the item? Try the play indexes (to identify anthologies with plays), consult a librarian, or consider buying the script.
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Locate Plays in Anthologies (Use Play Indexes)
Some plays do not appear in HOMER, even though they are in the library. These plays are published in anthologies, and you need to know the title of the anthology. To find these hidden plays, consult a play index that lists the contents of anthologies.
How to Use a Play Index1. Select an index (listed below) and look up your play in it.
Example: go to Inter-Play
and look up Mamet's play, All Men Are Whores.
2. Note the title of an anthology containing your play.
Example: Inter-Play indicates
that All Men Are Whores is
published in a Mamet anthology entitled Goldberg
Street: Short Plays and Monologues.
3. Look up the anthology's title in HOMER.
Example: HOMER finds the anthology, Goldberg Street,
in the Babbidge Library (PS 3563 .A4345 G65 1985).
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Selected List of Play Indexes:
- Inter-Play
Online index to plays in collections, anthologies, and periodicals and in a variety of languages. Contains approximately 16,130 citations to plays. More information about Inter-Play. From Portland State University.
- Play Index. Babbidge & Music/Drama Ref Z
5781 .P53 (several volumes)
Comprehensive coverage. Each volume represents a range of years. Check each volume (unless your play was recently published). The back part of the volume lists plays by cast analysis (# of characters of men, women, boys, girls and extras needed, and dialect).
- Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections: An
Author and Title Index to Plays Appearing in Collections
Published between 1900 and 1985. Babbidge and
Music/Drama Ref. PN1655 .O8 1988.
Goes back further than the Play Index.
- Playwright's Union of
Canada
Searchable database includes over 1,600 contemporary scripts.
- Small-Cast
One-Act Guide Online Based in UK.
One-act scripts by playwrights worldwide for four or fewer actors in many languages, and related material. Includes source directory for scripts, cast breakdowns, etc.
- For other play indexes,
see Ron Blazek's The Humanities: A Selective Guide to
Information Sources (Babbidge Ref. AZ 221 B553 1994),
as well as Yale's guide to
Plays Lists and Indexes. For example, they would
point you to these indexes:
- 1/2/3/4 for the Show: A Guide to Small-cast One-act Plays. By Lewis W. Heniford. PN 6120.O5 H46 1995 Music Ref. and Babbidge Ref. Indexes small cast (up to four actors) one-act plays. Has a good bibliography plus script analyses for eighty plays.
- Chicorel Theater Index to Plays in Anthologies and Collections: 1970-1976. Also known as the Theatre Index. By Marietta Chicorel. Babbidge Reference Z 5781 .C4846.
- Drury's Guide to Best Plays. By James M. Salem. Z 5781 .D8 1987 Babbidge Ref. Includes cast index, selected subjects, prize winners, and popular plays for high schools and amateur groups.
- Index to Children's Plays in Collections, 1975-1984. By Beverly Robin Trefny and Eileen C. Palmer. Babbidge Reference PN 1627 .T73 1986.
- Index to Plays in Periodicals, 1977-1987. By Dean H. Keller. Z 5781 .K43 1990 Babbidge Ref.
Also consult Web sites for buying a script or full-text plays on the Internet (listed below).
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Borrow From Another Library (Delivered Free!)
- If the play is at a UConn Regional Campus, display the item's description in HOMER, then click "Request From Another UConn Campus.
- WorldCat
--
This database lists the holdings of thousands of other libraries.
Look up and display the play, click on "Borrow From Another
Library," enter your name and NetID, and select "Music
Library" (or Babbidge) as a pickup location. WorldCat
also lists nearby libraries, in case you prefer to drive.
- Document Delivery / InterLibrary Loan has an online form that you can fill out. You will need the play's complete citation.
Buy a Script
If you cannot find the script in the library, or you want your own copy, try the following resources.
- Bookstores, Publishers, and Licensing Organizations (from VASTA) -- Very good list of stores and Web sites that sell or license playscripts. Also see Used, Rare, and Remaindered Books.
- Dooley's.com: Character (Cast Number) Search -- Online guide to modern playwrights and theatre plays. Includes a search for plays by number/type of cast members.
- Dramatists Play Service -- Search or browse thousands of plays at this major play-licensing agency for the English-speaking theatre.
- Samuel French, Inc. -- French's catalog includes monologues, audition material, classroom guides, classic works, and the latest plays from the professional theater.
- Try some of the popular online bookstores (e.g., Amazon).
Request A Library Purchase
Contact the music/drama librarian or use this request form. Your input benefits future generations and helps build library collections.
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Full-Text Plays on the Internet
Also consult play indexes on the Web (listed above).
- 19th Century Playtext Database
- American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920. From the Library of Congress.
- Association for Hispanic Classical Theatre: complete text of classical Spanish plays.
- Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities (at Rutgers University)
- Complete Works of William Shakespeare (at MIT)
- Dramatic Exchange A site where playwrights can post their otherwise unpublished scripts.
- ELAC TheatrePedia (from East Los Angeles College Theatre Arts) Alphabetical lists of plays and playwrights, including pointers to some full-text resources.
- Electronic Text Archives and Plays Online (from WWW Virtual Library-Theatre and Drama Resources) Free service for playwrights and readers. Indexes other full-text Web sites and provides server space for some plays.
- EServer Drama Collection Classic and contemporary works, organized by historical period. Includes screenplays.
- Internet Archive. Library of Internet sites and cultural artifacts in digital form. Includes online texts.
- The New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project Collection, 1935-1939. Created by the Library Congress. Contains playscripts from over seventy productions of the Federal Theatre Project.
- Online Books Page (Univ. of Pennsylvania). Includes plays, mostly in public domain. For a list of online collections, see the archive page.
- Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL). Collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization.
- Playwright's Union of Canada Searchable database includes over 1,600 contemporary scripts.
- Small-Cast One-Act Guide Online One-act scripts for four or fewer actors in many languages, and related material.
- Yahoo: Screenplays A list of Web sites with links to movie and TV scripts, as well as movie monologues sites.
Screenplays on the Web
- Drew's Scripts-O-Rama Downloadable scripts. Free.
- Megahit Screenplays Site compromised as of
12/17/4.
http://www.megahitmovies.com
- Script Shop Link compromised as of 12/17/4. http://www.scriptshop.com
- ScriptFly.com
- Simply Scripts Free, downloadable scripts, screenplays, and transcripts. Current, classic, and some forthcoming. Movies, television, anime, unproduced, and radio shows.
- Buy scripts: Book City of Hollywood, CA. Tel: (323) 466 2525
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