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Theater and Dance Research Guide

Finding Plays

 

Find text of plays:

  • Google Search
    You can also try searching for your play text using a Google search. Search for the title of your play in quotation marks, add the playwright's name, and add .pdf  to find viewable scans of plays.

 

In the Five College Catalog enter the title of the play as a Keyword search in quotes, for example “cherry orchard” or "Topdog/Underdog". This will find the play as a standalone title and also within anthologies or collections.

If you do not have a specific play in mind, you can perform an advanced search in the catalog for "drama" as a subject search (change the keyword search to subject search using the dropdown menu--see the example below). Once you have results from this search, select "book" under format on the left habd side of the screen (see example below). **Note that the subject will be drama even if it is a comedic or other type of play. You can also try adding a subject of interest in the keyword search field, such as "families" or "college". This would also be the place to add "comedy". However, not all catalog records for plays have this additonal information.

Example of an advanced search:

There is also a large collection of playscripts in Archives and Special Collections (only available on-site during open hours). You can search for these in the catalog using the call number "Plays".

Finding Books at Amherst and in the Five Colleges

Use the main search box, Discover, on the Library homepage to search for books at Amherst and across the Five Colleges. You can filter your results by format (book, ebook, etc.) or filter by library location.

Use the Place Request button to have material delivered to Frost for pickup.