Skip to Main Content

Theatre and Drama

This guide provides suggested resources for theatre and drama research at the University of Michigan.

Online Sources for Play Reviews

Print Sources for Play Reviews

American Drama Criticism: Interpretations, 1890-1977. Compiled by Floyd Eugene Eddleman. 2d ed. Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press, 1979.
Hatcher Graduate Reference Room: Z 1231 .D7 E22 1979
Indexes reviews and criticism published in books and periodicals; some content here is not indexed in other sources.

The American Theatre As Seen By Its Critics, 1752-1934. Edited by Montrose J. Moses and John Mason Brown. New York: Norton, 1934.
AAEL: PN 2221 .M9 1983
Provides a selection of reviews from 1752 through 1934.

Cumulated Dramatic Index, 1909-1949. 2 vols. Boston, G. K. Hall, 1965.
Hatcher Graduate: Z 5781 .C97 1965
A reproduction of the actual entries as they were originally printed in the 41 annual volumes of the Dramatic Index.

A Guide to Critical Reviews. James M. Salem. 3d ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1984.
Hatcher Graduate Reference Room: Z 5782 .S16 1984 pt. 1-2
Pt. 1 covers American drama, 1909-1982; pt. 2 covers musicals, 1909-1989.

A Guide to Critical Reviews. James M. Salem. 2d ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973-79.
Hatcher Graduate Reference Room: Z 5782 .S16 1973 pt. 3
Pt. 3 covers foreign drama, 1909-1977. Foreign drama is not covered in the 3d edition.

How to Locate Reviews of Plays and Films: A Bibliography of Criticism from the Beginnings to the Present. Gordon Samples. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1976.
Hatcher Graduate: Z 5781 .S195
A guide to finding reviews in books, newspapers, and magazines.

New York Theatre Critics' Reviews. New York: Critics' Theatre Reviews, 1943-1995.
Hatcher Graduate: 822.95 N532 (earliest issues in Buhr)
A complete guide and record of the New York stage from 1940-1996, reprinted from New York Sun, New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, New York Post, New York Daily News, etc.

The Performing Arts in Colonial American Newspapers, 1690-1783. New York: University Music Editions, 1997.
Music Library: CD-ROM M17
Presents all references to music, poetry, dance, and theatre found in American newspapers from the earliest extant copy (1690) to those from the end of the Revolutionary War (1783).

Victorian Actors and Actresses in Review: A Dictionary of Contemporary Views of Representative British and American Actors and Actresses, 1837-1901. Compiled by Donald Mullin. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983.
AAEL: PN 2597 .V53 1983
Provides an alphabetical list of actors and actresses with brief biographical information and brief excerpts of reviews (citations provided). Also includes an excellent introduction with a brief history of the Victorian stage.