Locating information about a play involves digging into a variety of sources. Some you will have access to because of library subscriptions, while others are available on the open web (if you know how to find them).
This guide lists some of the major sources you might use to analyze and understand a play.
Tips for searching the library catalog, OneSearch
Some books are available in library stacks, and books are shelved by topic, so browsing the area might be of interest once you find one relevant item! Others are available as eBooks. If you have trouble accessing either, do not hesitate to reach out for support.
Locating articles or news on the context in which your play was published and your author lived can offer insight into your understanding of the text.
Available in library stacks. Books are shelved by topic, so browsing the area might be of interest once you find one relevant item!
Literary criticism is the evaluation, comparison, analysis, or interpretation of literary works. Criticism may examine the themes in the work, look at the author's writings as a collection, analyze a work through a particular lens or school of thought, or compare works of the same theme, genre, time period, etc.).
NOTE: A book review is different from literary criticism. Book reviews summarize the book and give the reviewer's opinion on whether the book is worth reading. Authors of book reviews can intend them for a general or an academic audience.
OneSearch searches many (although not all) of the library's databases. It's a great place to start, but do not be afraid of jumping into individual databases for more comprehensive results.
Article searching often requires a narrow search with multiple terms to get the information you want. Consider searching for the author AND criticism OR analysis AND the title of the work. Once you have an idea of what is out there, you might also add another search term related to the theme or lens you are analyzing.
For example: "William Shakespeare" AND (criticism OR analysis) AND "Romeo and Juliet"
Tips for searching the library catalog, OneSearch
Some books are available in library stacks, and books are shelved by topic, so browsing the area might be of interest once you find one relevant item! Others are available as eBooks. If you have trouble accessing either, do not hesitate to reach out for support.
Rod Library has some physical recordings and a small selection of streaming recordings. You can find those resources through OneSearch using the Audio and Video filters.
Rod Library also has a Listening Room in 310 if you do not have a CD or DVD player. We also have DVD players for checkout at the Library Services Desk.
Can you locate any history of where the play debuted? How about notable performances that happened in other spaces? This is an excellent use of Wikipedia or Google! Once you have those theatre names, we can dig into the theater archives.
If you are having a hard time navigating the search on a website, you can always limit your Google search to a specific domain. For example, search site:.shakespearesglobe.com "romeo and juliet" to find articles on the Shakespeare's Globe website about Romeo and Juliet.
Using news sources and limiting by "reviews" is one of the best ways to find large production theatre reviews for your play.
Sometimes theatres include quotes from reviews on their webpages. Sometimes they even give you the link! Use those. If they don't give you the link. You can use a Google Advanced search string to locate the review.
One of the most helpful Google hacks is to search a particular website as a limiter. For example, I know there was a quote in The Hollywood Reporter that says, "Contemporary trappings never quite amount to a distinctive edge.” I can turn that into a search site:.hollywoodreporter.com “Contemporary trappings never quite amount to a distinctive edge.”
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection. To promote their library, they preview some of their sources online for free. It is a website definitely worth perusing!
