Research Guides: Theatre: Theatre Articles

Theatre Scholarship Databases

Use these databases to search for articles and essays from theatre, design, literature, and humanities journals.

Theatre Scholarship

International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA) (now Performing Arts Periodicals Database)
Citations and abstracts, and select full text covering dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, comedy, opera, and more.
MLA International Bibliography
The Modern Language Association of America's index of critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics, folklore, and the dramatic arts.
Project Muse
Database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books in the humanities and social sciences from university presses and scholarly societies around the world.
JSTOR
Searchable backfiles of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. (Backfiles end typically 3 - 6 years prior to the current date).

Theatrical Design

International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA) (now Performing Arts Periodicals Database)
Citations and abstracts, and select full text covering dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, comedy, opera, and more.
Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI)
International index to articles in hundreds of design and craft journals. Also contains data on designers, craftspeople, studios, schools, workshops, and firms.
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
Citations for journal articles on architecture and design, covering subjects such as the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design.
Art Full Text (now Art & Architecture Source)
Citations, abstracts, and selected full text for articles from international periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, and art dissertations. Also indexes art reproductions from indexed periodicals across styles and art movements.
Now Art & Architecture Source with access to more journals.

In addition to art and design databases, try these newspaper and magazine databases
to find reviews or criticism about contemporary art and design.

Access World News
Also known as NewsBank, provides access to major national and international newspapers, local and regional titles, blogs, and more. Historical and current content, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch archive from 1903 to present.
Dow Jones Factiva
Comprehensive, full-text up-to-the-minute news and business source from Dow Jones and Reuters. Includes national, international, and regional newspapers, both current content and archives, periodicals, podcasts, newswires, and more.
Newspaper Source Plus
Full text for major national and international newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Times (London). Also includes full-text radio and television news transcripts.
New York Times via nytimes.com
Use this link to register for a free account. Important source of reporting information, and opinion on politics, finance, health, science, culture, the arts, sports, and fashion in the U.S. and abroad. See ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index for issues back to 1851.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index
Full image of articles published in The New York Times including illustrations and advertisements. Covers from the first issue in 1851 to three years prior to the current year.

Dissertations may be useful sources for researching the state of the field
and the bibliographies can often provide a wealth of new sources.

Dissertations and Theses Full Text (ProQuest)
Comprehensive and curated collection of dissertations and theses from universities around the world, with full-text availability for most titles.