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Drama

Play Synopses

Drury's Guide to Best Plays: PN6112.5 .Z99 D7 1969

The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre, 1900-1975: PN2266 .B68

A Guide to Play Selection: Z5781 .S6 1958

International Dictionary of Theatre: REF PN2035 .I49 1992

Covers 620 notable plays, including summaries, first production information and critical references

Full-Text Play Databases

Drama Online

This digital library combines exclusively available playtext content and scholarly publications with filmed live performances, film adaptations, and audio plays.Queen’s Library currently subscribes to Globe on Screen 1 & 2; Nick Hern Books; National Theatre Collection; Playwrights Canada Press; Royal Shakespeare Company Live Collection

Digital Theatre Plus

 
 
 
Asian American Drama: Contains 252 plays by 42 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. Some 50% of these plays have never been published before. The database also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays.
 
Black Drama - 1850 to Present, Third Edition: Plays from North America, Africa and the Caribbean. Black Drama, Third Edition contains the full text of more than 1.700 plays 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. The collection includes musical comedies, domestic dramas, folk dramas, history plays, anti-slavery plays, one-act plays, and other works.
 
English Drama: Plays from the medieval mystery cycles to the comedies of Oscar Wilde. 
 
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama and Fiction: Plays of Latin US writers  
 
National Theatre Collection: 30 filmed performances.
 
Nick Hern Books Modern Plays: 600 plays from UK and Ireland
 
North American Women's Drama: Plays, biographical, production, and theatrical information.
 
Theatre in Context Collection (formerly North American Theatre Online) Canadian and American Theatre. Includes reference works, images, flyers, playbills, postcards and scrapbooks.
 
Twentieth-Century Drama: North America, Britain and Ireland, India, Africa, Australia and the Caribbean
 
Twentieth Century North American Drama: ncludes reference materials, images, information on theatres and more....

Finding Monologues

Search Omni by adding the word "monologues": e.g. women and monologues
 
  • Actors Guide to Monologues: an Index of 700 Monologues from Classical & Modern Plays for Auditions & Classwork: PN4321 .G86 1974. Arranged by sex and age.
  • Guide to Monologues, Men: an Index of over 800 Monologues from Classical and Modern Plays: REF PN2080 .G84 1988
  • Guide to Monologues, Women: an Index of over 800 Monologues from Classical and Modern Plays: REF PN2080 .G85 1988
  • An Index to Monologs and Dialogs: PN4305 .M6 I64 1949
  • 1/2/3/4 for the Show: a Guide to Small-Cast One Act Plays: REF Z5781 .H46 1995t .Two volume set outlines intent, viewpoint, and audience, followed by  indexes to one-act plays for as many as four characters.
  • The Smith and Kraus Monologue Index: REF PN2080 .S6 1999. 2600 monologues have been indexed by various categories.
  • The Monologuer - Backstage: Search by author, play, genre, category, gender, age, theme, and keyword
  • Actorama: Monologues according to gender, source material, type (dramatic, comic, serio-comic), main action/emotions explored, period, genre or specific keywords (e.g. title or author).

Playwrights Canada Press Canadian resource (170+ plays from Canadian playwrights) Indigenous Canadian Playwrights

Playwrights Guild of Canada Canadian resource: Information about Canada's playwrights.

Black Playwrights:  Descriptions and roles.

LGBTQl2S: Canadian playwrights

Asian Playwrights 

Coach House Book: newly published plays including description and reviews.

Studio 58 Database of Diverse Plays and Playwrights includes plays by women, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and diverse cultural backgrounds (self-defined by the writers). One section dedicated to Canadian writers

Theatre Online Master List

A resource on the Canadian Theatre Educator's Conference site. Includes links to over 900 productions available online as audio dramas, filmed productions, or recordings of online pieces. Includes section highlighting online plays featuring BIPOC artists.

Locate specific types of plays

If you need to find titles of specific types of plays, such as a one-act play for high school, try these online tools: