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Theatre Arts

A guide to library resources and services for research related to theatre (or theater)

Find Acting Editions at the Library!

Acting editions

1. In the Library Catalog, do a search for "acting editions" (in quotations.) This is our local subject heading or tag for books that are just the text of a play with no additional literary analysis included.

2. Head down to the Ground Floor of STL and browse around the PN2080.3 section of the Stacks (all acting editions, all the time!) or PN2080.4 which is where you'll find selected librettos. Any of these titles may be checked out.

3. Looking for a specific play? Search the Library Catalog by "Title begins with" or "Author (lastname, first). Can't find it? Try Worldcat and request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Don't see a play you think we should own? Drop me a line and I can order it for you! (bellodyk@newpaltz.edu)

E-book Collections (aka Find Plays Online!)

Search these collections for electronic books and plays that can be viewed online!

Tips for searching:  

  • Search for a specific playwright or title of a work. Keywords including theatre, theater, drama, and performing arts are also helpful for locating plays and related books. 
  • Here are some search results that include full text acting editions in the EBSCO Ebook Collection. 
  • Ebook Central includes lots of play texts from Theatre Communications Group. If that link does not work, you can also type "Theatre Communications Group" (with quotes) into the search. 

Find Books at Other Libraries

Looking for a book we do not have at STL? We can help you get access to a copy with services including SUNY Resource Sharing and Interlibrary Loan! It may take up to a week and a half for books to arrive at STL so be sure to place requests as soon as possible. 

Read Plays for Free Online

The following links include play texts that are available for free online. 

If you are aware of other resources, email me and I will add them to this list!