Theater and Dance
Researching a Particular Theme?
Browse any of our databases for literary criticism and thematic analysis. We picked a few favorites to get you started.
-
America: History and Life
Index of scholarly journals, books, and dissertations covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from before European contact to the present.
-
Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Note: The library has begun a subscription to Scopus as a replacement for our Web of Science subscription. Access to Web of Science, including the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, will end on December 31, 2025.
Provides article references for journals across the arts and humanities disciplines, including art and art history, archeology, architecture, dance, music, film and theater, history, humanities, literature, and religion. Offers cited reference searching.
-
BASE A search engine for academic web resources - includes journals, institutional repositories, digital collections etc. Many open access resources.
-
Digital Library of the Caribbean dLOC is a cooperative of partners within the Caribbean region that provides access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. Types of materials include; newspapers, official documents, documentation and numeric data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, historic and contemporary maps, oral histories, travel accounts, literature, poetry, musical expressions, and artifacts. Contains entries with information about specific performances in the Caribbean
-
Digital Public Library of America DPLA materials come from America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All of these are freely available and include; photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, etc.
-
Directory of Open Access Journals Access to quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals covering a range of topics and languages.
-
Dissertations and Thesis - Open Access (Proquest) Provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge. Check out theses and dissertations in the field of performance studies.
-
HathiTrust Digital Library A digital preservation repository that provides access to millions of digitized materials from libraries around the world. For enhanced access to materials, log into HathiTrust using your Macalester email credentials.
-
JSTOR
Large collection of scholarly journals and books from all disciplines, with stronger coverage for the humanities and social sciences. Current issues from journals (the most recent 3-5 years) are generally not available in JSTOR.
-
Literary Sources (Gale)In concert with the MLA International Bibliography databases, another good source for researching plays and playwrights as literature and literary figures.
-
MLA International Bibliography (Ebsco)A major source for researching plays as literature and for engaging in thematic discussions.
-
Open Book Publishers Find peer-reviewed open access books in a variety of subjects. Check out their section on Theater.
-
Open Library of Humanities The Open Library of Humanities is a non-profit open access publisher for the humanities and social sciences.
-
Project MUSEAccess to journals in the humanities and social sciences, covering literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and economics.
Searching for Reviews & Playbills
-
Star Tribune Archive
Searchable full text of the newspaper from 1986 to the present. Text only.
-
St. Paul Pioneer PressCurrent content as well as archives going back to 1948. Full-page digital images of the complete paper are available for the historical archive (1948 to 1987) as well as the most recent issues (2018 to present). Articles from 1988 to 2018 are available in full-text, but without page images.
-
Access World News: Research Collection
International, national, regional, state, and local newspaper articles and video clips. Includes over a thousand international news sources from scores of countries on six continents, translated into English when written in other languages.
-
StarTribune Stage & ArtsWhat's going on in the Twin Cities? Check out the StarTribune Stage & Arts news to find exhibit openings and more.
-
Twin Cities Theater BloggersA weekly round-up post lists reviews from various Twin Cities theater aficionados.
-
CurtainUp.comU.S.-focused online magazine of reviews, going back to 1996.
-
Off Off OnlineFocuses on Off- and Off-Off-Broadway shows in New York, going back to 2004.
-
New York Theatre WireReviews for theatre and dance performances in New York. Since 1996.
-
LexisNexis Play ReviewsSet up to search through LexisNexis Academic's collection specifically for play reviews.
-
Academic Search PremierChoose Advanced Search and select "Entertainment Review" under Document Type. Search for title, performer, venue, playwright, etc.
-
Literary Sources (Gale)Gale Literary Sources allows users to search across several literature databases (Literature Resource Center, Literature Criticism Online, and others) to find full text of literary works, journal articles, literature criticism, reviews, biographical information and overviews.
-
US Newsstream (ProQuest)Refine your search by selecting Document Type: Review. Search by title of the play, performer, venue, playwright, etc. Includes the Star Tribune, New York Times, and The Times of London. Also see our New York Times Archive, which goes back to 1851 and the Times (London) Digital Archive which goes back to 1785.
-
New York Times Archive
Searchable full text of the New York Times from the first issue in 1851 to 4 years ago. Includes full page and article images. Most recent years of the Times can be searched in US Newsstream or New York Times - Digital Microfilm.
-
The Times Historical Archive, 1785–2019 (Gale Primary Sources)
Full-text and full-image archive to the Times of London for the years 1785-2019.
Topic Overviews
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
eBook
This encyclopedia provides authoritative and up-to-date information about theatre and performance from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments in London, Paris, New York, and around the globe.
Encyclopedia of Musical Theater
MAC Reference ML102.M88 G3 2001
Musical theater around the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, covering performers, composers, writers, shows, producers, directors, choreographers, and designers.
International Encyclopedia of Dance
eBook
A core reference work including signed entries and bibliographies, this covers the full spectrum of dance—theatrical, ritual, dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance.
The SAGE Handbook of Performance Studies
MAC Stacks PN1590.S6 S24 2006
Brings together discussions of the major research in performance studies and identifies directions for further investigation.
Acting
MAC Stacks PN2035 .O84 2001
A cross-cultural reference work exploring the diversity of expression found in rituals, festivals, and performances, uncovering acting techniques and practices from around the world.
Magazines @ Mac
-
American Theatre
Online -
DANCE Magazine
Online -
Public Art Review
Print & Online
Open Source Dance Resources
-
Jacob's Pillow Dance InteractiveA growing, diverse, digital library of videos and essays. Includes video playlists such as Male-Female Duets, Directing from Offstage, and Black History Month and essays around themes such as Dance in the African Diaspora and Women in Dance.
-
America's Dance TreasuresA curated online exhibit of people, places, and groups that have had an impact on the dance cultural heritage of the United States. Profiles include biographies, videos, essays, and ‘suggested reading’ lists for further research.
-
Curating the Memoirs of Blacks in BalletA growing, annotated timeline of Black people in ballet from 1919 to today.
-
British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance DatabaseDocuments Black and Asian contributions to the UK’s theatre scene. Search by person, role, play, and company.
-
Japanese Performing Arts Resource CenterDigital collection of resources for research about Japan’s performing arts.