Tommy Nixon
Humanities Librarian
Davis Library
tommy_nixon@unc.edu
(919) 962-1151

Can't find the article, book, or report you need at our library? You can request it from another library through interlibrary loan.

Locating production reviews often involves detective work to establish when and where plays have been staged. The date and location of a particular production determine the best sources for reviews. Sources used to locate a review of a 19th century production of a play in New York will be very different from sources used to locate reviews of a current London production of a play.

Literary critical analysis may also be valuable in considering individual productions, and could have been written at any time since a play's original publication.

This Guide lists some of the major resources both for finding reviews and identifying productions, and for locating critical analysis.

Academic Search Premier
Covers popular and scholarly journal articles with many full-text articles. Academic Search Premier provides information from a wide range of academic areas. For production reviews, search for play title words plus "theatrical production" (e.g., Arcadia theatrical production), and then select "Entertainment Review" as Document Type. Coverage dates from approximately 1975 to the present.

Reader's Guide Retrospective
Indexing of several hundred U.S. popular periodicals and magazines for the period 1890-1982/83. Search for author/title keywords and "theater reviews" (e.g., Wilde and Earnest and theater reviews).

Theatre Record, 1981-present. (Earlier title: London Theatre Record).
Reprints, in chronological order, reviews appearing in a variety of British publications. Covers both London and regional theater. Cumulated title index to 1981-2005.
Davis Library Reference Row 17 PN2956.L6 L66

A Guide to Critical Reviews. Salem, James. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1984-.
A very useful guide to New York City productions of American and foreign plays for the dates indicated.
Part 1, American Drama 1909-1982
Part 2, The Musical 1909-1989
Part 3, Foreign Drama 1909-1977
Davis Reference Desk Z5782.S343

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