Walker Library: Dramaturgy: Playwright

The Playwright

When researching the playwright and their world, look for information about the playwright's influences, life experiences and dominant themes, as well as the social, political, philosophical and moral attitudes of their environment.

Good starting points for playwright research:

MTSU Library Catalog - Search for books or films about the playwright. Other keywords to use in combination with a personal name are "sources" or "influence"
Biographical or Literary Criticism Databases
Multidisciplinary Article Databases
Reference Sources (Print or online)

Biography and Literary Criticism Databases

Biography (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
Biographies, articles and bibliographies for prominent people in all fields.
600,000+ biographical entries — on more than 528,000 individuals — spanning history and geography. Search by Name, Occupation, Nationality, Birth Place, or Death Place.
Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
Periodical coverage of Biography Index, full-text articles, page images, and abstracts from Wilson databases (including biographical profiles, feature articles, interviews, essays, book reviews, performance reviews, speeches, or obituaries).
• Coverage of more than 600,000 individuals
• Over 2.2 million records
• Links to over 300,000 related full-text articles, as well as abstracts and images from thousands of periodicals
• Over 35,000 images
• Substantive narrative profiles averaging 3,000 words in length
Drama Online Library This link opens in a new window
Full text editions of over 1,800 popular and critically-acclaimed plays from the Greeks to the present day, as well as videos of stage productions from BBC Drama, Shakespeare's Globe, Donmar King's Cross, and others.
Includes the Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy and Shakespeare's Globe on Screen 1 & 2
Find monologues
Browse genres
Browse time periods
Contents list
Video content includes titles from BBC Drama, Shakespeare's Globe on Screen, Stage on Screen, The Hollow Crown, and Shakespeare in the Present.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.
For authors now living or who died after 12/31/59, also consult Contemporary Literary Criticism.
LION (Literature Online) This link opens in a new window
Texts of English and American literature, criticism, and literary reference. Limited to 4 simultaneous users.

Multidisciplinary and Discovery Databases

JEWL Search This link opens in a new window
Search for books, articles, images, videos, scores, audio recordings, encyclopedia entries and more from a single search. Results include thousands of online resources in each category, as well as items physically held by the libraries on campus.
ProQuest All-Database Search This link opens in a new window
Simultaneous search of all databases from ProQuest.
This search does not include Literature Online (LION) and ebooks.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Fulltext multidisciplinary database of academic journals, magazines, periodicals and other reports, 19th century to present.
Academic Search Ultimate is an excellent source of scholarly journals in all academic disciplines. More than 13,600 journals are indexed and full text is provided for more than 9,000. Searchable cited references are provided for selected titles
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Complete full text (page images) for back issues of various leading scholarly journals.

Selected Reference Sources

Consult the Library Catalog for content similar to the items below.

Irish Playwrights, 1880-1995 by Bernice Schrank; William W. Demastes Irish playwrights such as Sean O'Casey, George Bernard Shaw, and John Millington Synge have made enormous contributions to world drama. This reference provides detailed entries for 32 Irish playwrights active from 1880 to 1995. Each entry includes a biographical sketch, a summary of productions, a critical assessment of the dramatist's work, and extensive bibliographical information. The volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography. Though Irish dramatists have been writing plays for centuries, Irish drama is largely a product of the last hundred years and is deeply rooted in the political and social ferment out of which Ireland emerged as an independent nation. The creation of Irish drama is primarily the story of the Abbey Theatre, founded in 1897 as the Irish Literary Theatre by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and William Butler Yeats. Though the Abbey remains Ireland's national theatre, its existence and role have been challenged and critiqued by individuals who rejected its Irishness and who sought to introduce Irish audiences to the drama of continental Europe. Through its extended entries for 32 playwrights, this reference charts the history of Irish drama from the late 19th century to 1995. Included are profiles of some of the most important names in literature, such as George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge, Oscar Wilde, Sean O'Casey, and Samuel Beckett; along with more recent and less canonical authors whose works are nonetheless distinguished. Entries are written by expert contributors and are arranged alphabetically. Each entry includes a brief biographical sketch, production histories for major works, a critical assessment of the playwright's career, and extensive archival and bibliographical information. As an aid to locating general works on Irish drama, the volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography.
Call Number: 1st Floor Reference 822.809 Ir4s
Publication Date: 1997
Latin American Dramatists since 1945 by Tony A. Harvell This resource compiles and locates biographical and bibliographical information of over 700 prominent Latin American dramatists of the late 20th century and their plays in 20 different countries, and it lists over 7,000 plays arranged by country and by author. Author biographies consist of year and place of birth, education, careers, other literary genres, and awards and prizes. The bibliographic listings include various editions of plays, followed by references to the plays in anthologies, collections, or periodicals. Latin American theater is rooted in the rich historical traditions of both the indigenous cultures of the region and those of Spain. In the second half of the 20th century, immigration to Latin America from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia also proved influential, and theater became a means of social protest. The military and political dictatorships of the late 20th century often censored plays and persecuted playwrights. This resource compiles and locates biographical and bibliographical information about over 700 prominent Latin American dramatists and their plays in 20 different countries, and it lists over 7,000 plays arranged by country and by author. Author biographies consist of year and place of birth, education, careers, other literary genres, and awards and prizes. The bibliographic listings include various editions of plays, followed by references to the plays in anthologies, collections, or periodicals.
Call Number: 1st Floor Reference 862.6409 H26l
Publication Date: 2003
Historical Dictionary of French Theater by Edward Forman The term "French theater" evokes most immediately the glories of the classical period and the peculiarities of the Theater of the Absurd. It has given us the works of Corneille, Racine, and Moliere. In the Romantic era there was Alexander Dumas and surrealist works of Alfred Jarry, and then the Theater of the Absurd erupted in rationalistic France with Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, and Jean-Paul Sartre. The Historical Dictionary of French Theater relates the history of the French theater through a chronology, introduction, bibliography, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on authors, trends, genres, concepts, and literary and historical developments that played a central role in the evolution of French theater.
Call Number: online
Publication Date: 2010
Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre by Laurence Senelick A latecomer continually hampered by government control and interference, the Russian theatre seems an unlikely source of innovation and creativity. Yet, by the middle of the nineteenth century, it had given rise to a number of outstanding playwrights and actors, and by the start of the twentieth century, it was in the vanguard of progressive thinking in the realms of directing and design. Its influence throughout the world was pervasive: Nikolai Gogol', Anton Chekhov and Maksim Gor'kii remain staples of repertories in every language, the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavskii, Vsevolod Meierkhol'd and Mikhail Chekhov continue to inspire actors and directors, while designers still draw on the graphics of the World of Art group and the Constructivists. What distinguishes Russian theater from almost any other is the way in which these achievements evolved and survived in ongoing conflict or cooperation with the State. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre covers the history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on individual actors, directors, designers, entrepreneurs, plays, playhouses and institutions, Censorship, Children's Theater, migr Theater, and Shakespeare in Russia. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Theatre.
Call Number: 4th Floor 792.094703 Se564h
Publication Date: 2015

About Us

Dramaturgy

The Playwright

Biography and Literary Criticism Databases

Multidisciplinary and Discovery Databases

Selected Reference Sources