Skip to Main Content

Drama

Finding Reviews

Use the following resources to find reviews of a particular performance of a play. Newspapers are searched in Omni under Resource Type. See Criticism for indepth analysis.

Before looking for a review, you need date of first performance and whether you want older or more recent performance reviews.

See heading Theatre reviews when using print indexes. Options for choosing Art Reviews, Film Reviews, Concert Reviews and Dance Reviews.
 
Arts and Humanities Citation Index: AI3 .B86 from 1962-2009 (Compact Shelving)
Indexes scholarly articles on theatre and reviews of theatrical performances. A&HCI is part of Web of Science.
 
British Humanities Index: AI3 .B86 1962-2009 (SL Compact Shelving)
For review, search by the author's last name.
 
CBCA @ Proquest Canadian resource
Search title of a play and select the article type, "theatre review" under More Search Options.
 
Canadian Periodicals (CPI.Q) Canadian resource: Print holdings: 1920 - 1998: Check Omni
Indexes over 400 English and French periodicals in all subject areas. For drama reviews, see heading Drama Reviews, Drama, or Theatre.
 
Cumulated Dramatic Index, 1909-1949: REF PN1601 .C84
 
Factiva  
Coverage varies but many titles go back to the early 1980s. To find theatre reviews, search author's last name, plus play title and add "review".
 
A Guide to Critical Reviews: REF Z5781.S16
Part I: American Drama, 1909-1982
Part II: The Musical, 1909 - 1989
Part III: Foreign Drama, 1909-1977
Part IV: The Screenplay, 1971, 1973 & supplement
Indexes critical reviews on the New York stage from American and Canadian magazines and the New York Times.
 
LexisNexis
Coverage varies for each publication but many titles go back to the 80's.
 
New York Times:: REF AI21 .N5 (Index Shelves) from 1851-
For print index, see under heading Theater and then by title of the play.
 
New York Times Theater Reviews: REF PN2266 .N48 (1971-1994)
 New York Times Theater Reviews
 
Readers' Guide
REF AI3 .R2 from 1900- 2006 (Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature)
REF AP3 .R496 (1890-1922) (Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature)
See heading Drama reviews to Feb/1982; heading Theater reviews. Also try playwright by last name.
 
The Times Digital Archive (1785-1985)
To limit a search to find reviews, click "reviews" under Features.