Theatre, Drama, and Performing Arts Subject Guide 

Available from wikipedia.org

American Memory Collection Finder
Includes links to the following Library of Congress online collections: The Federal Theater Project: 1935-39, The Plays of Zora Neale Hurston 1925-1944, The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment 1870-1920.

Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Available since 1993, this site offers full-text of Shakespeare's plays and poetry.

Costumer's Manifesto
The sheer size and comprehensive quality of this site requires its inclusion here.  Not all of the many links remain current, and a number of the links go to commercial sources, but the depth given in each topic is notable.  Example: on the "Make-Up and Mask Supplies" page, surfers can visit an academic essay on make-up design for the stage, or visit a commercial theatrical mask dealer.  The site requires browsing but is clearly worth the effort.

Didaskalia: Ancient Theatre Today
Site for the online journal dealing with contemporary research and performance related to Ancient Greek and Roman drama in performance.

Inter-Play
Index to plays in collections, anthologies, and periodicals. Searchable by author and/or titles. More than 18,000 entries for plays. Database was created by Pennsylvania State University Librarians.

Internet Broadway Database
From the League of American Theatres and Producers, "IBDB is the official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today. Details include pertinent people involved as well as interesting facts and production statistics. Get a list of every production of Hamlet on Broadway or a list of your favorite actor's credits. Find out what played at a particular theatre or what shows opened in a specified Broadway season.

Internet Theatre Database
This attempt to act as the "Internet Movie Database" for theater enthusiasts continues to develop since its 1999 inception.  While incomplete, the site offers quick and easy reference for cast lists, acting credits, and production notes.  

Jack Wolcott's Theatre History on the Web
Wolcott, has maintained this resource since 1996.  Including annotated links to sites on theater history (from the classical to contemporary periods), stagecraft (lighting, costuming, make-up), and physical resources (libraries, archives, commercial contacts), the helpful scope of the site is complimented by its accuracy. 

OTA: Oxford Text Archive
"The OTA works closely with members of the Arts and Humanities academic community to collect, catalogue, and preserve high-quality electronic texts for research and teaching. The OTA currently distributes more than 2500 resources in over 25 different languages, and is actively working to extend its catalogue of holdings." The archive's holding include a good number of plays available in full-text.

Playbill On Line
This resource is one of the largest and most popular theatre pages on the Web, reaching a wide audience (amateur, student, and professional) with its listings of theatre-related sites.  With a focus on current and future theater happenings in New York City and the United States, Playbill gives readers a sense of the contemporary theater community.

Shakespeare Illustrated
Hosted by Emory University, this "work in progress, explores nineteenth-century paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare's plays and their influences on one another."

Shakespeare in Quarto (from the British Library)
"On this site you will find the British Library’s 93 copies of the 21 plays by William Shakespeare printed in quarto before the theatres were closed in 1642."  Aside from the plays themselves, the site offers biographical information on Shakespeare, a glossary, references, background on the writing of the plays as well as their original performance history, and links to other sites.  

Shakespeare Online
With Shakespeare's life and work represented in great abundance on the Internet, comprehensive sites that are both helpful and navigable are increasingly hard to find.  This resource offers full-text of Shakespeare's plays and poems, as well as biography, scholarly discussions related to the authorship of Shakespeare's work, and an extensive annotated links page extending beyond sole coverage of the Bard.

TheatreCrafts.com
In association with the University of Exeter Drama Department, "the aim of theatrecrafts.com is to eventually be the best resource for practical information and advice about technical theatre techniques for theatre folk at any level."

Voice of the Shuttle
VOS remains one of the best, most reliable, and well maintained link sites available.  Resources listed under the topics Art, Art History, and Cultural Studies may be of particular interest.

The WWW Virtual Library for Theatre and Drama
While this site is not regularly updated, a number of the aggregate links are some of the best on the web.  Of particular note is the "Theater Image Collections Online" page, featuring links to visual collections from a wide variety of theaters and archives.
 

Actor's Equity Association
This union of American theater actors and stage managers include a "Casting Call" link that makes photo and resume requests for openings in shows currently up or in pre-production.  Limited information is provided about the ad sponsors.

American Association of Community Theatre Job Listings
Links give standard "job description" information for a variety of roles in community theatres across the country.  It does not appear that these listings are monitored (due to some basic errors in information and presentation).  To ascertain the validity of the ad, searchers may wish to conduct additional services on the organization sponsoring the position.

Artslynx International Arts Resources: Theatre Resources
This link will take you to the Artlynx page for Theatre Resources. Each category or topic includes links to helpful sources. Some of these links go directly to job sites; some go to professional organizations that often include job ads.  The design of the site is a bit clunky at times, and the links are not always updated, but overall it is comprehensive in scope and will be well worth the time invested.

ArtsOpportunities
Sponsored by Carnegie Mellon, this searchable database includes opportunities for all types of arts related careers and situations.  Note that you may limit your search by "Performing Arts-Theater" as well as other specific categories. 

Backstage Jobs
Online listing of current openings across the U.S. and the world, organized by category.  The "Contact Sheets" section, where users can submit their background and contact information, is a little tricky to access but you can get to it. 

E-Performer
Site includes audition listings for actors and a "Tech" section for ads related to non-acting jobs.

Playbill Jobs Listings
Hosted by the long running theatre publication Playbill, these job listings include a variety of positions currently available in the New York area.  Jobs range from telephone ticket salespeople to performers, scenic design specialists, and more. 

Theatre Jobs
Another site where jobs can be posted and individuals can seek positions, Theatre Jobs was recently renovated and is fairly user friendly. Some of the more obscure categories did not include many ads.  A login ID is required to view comprehensive information about postings.

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