Research Guides
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- Plays & Monologues
Drama: Plays & Monologues
Drama resources including production resources, digital collections, image collections, costume resources, plays and monologues.
Suggestions for Plays and Monologues
For plot summaries of contemporary plays, you can consult Concord Theatricals (previously Samuel French), Dramatists Play Service, and the Black Plays Archive. When you have a play in mind, you can then search for the play title within the UW Libraries Catalog search bar to see if we own a physical or digital copy. We also have books that include collections of monologues from many different plays in one book. Explore the suggested resources below.
- Concord Theatricals (previously Samuel French, Inc.)Plays published by Samuel French and others that feature monologues. Read descriptions, then search for plays in the UW Libraries search linked above.
- Dramatists Play ServicePlays published by Dramatists Play Service. Read descriptions, then search for plays in the UW Libraries search linked above.
- National Theatre Black Plays ArchiveThe Black Plays Archive is an online archive that documents the production of every African, Caribbean and Black British play produced in Britain. You can locate Black playwrights and plays that center Black experiences and then copy and paste play titles into the UW Libraries search linked above.
The Kilroys List: 67 Monologues & Scenes by Women & Nonbinary Playwrights by Publication Date: 2020
The Oberon Book of Modern Monologues for Women 2Publication Date: 2013
Hear Me Now: Audition Monologues for Actors of Colour by Publication Date: 2019
Audition Speeches for Black, South Asian and Middle Eastern Actors: Monologues for Women by Publication Date: 2016
Monologues in the Drama Library
Collections of monologues and scenes are shelved in the Monologue Section of the Drama Library, which is next to the current periodicals and open reserves. You may browse the section and there are several indexes available. There are also a number of notebooks compiled by Drama TAs with suggestions for monologues.
Acting Editions
Plays with the call number ActEd_____ are shelved together in the Drama Library in the open stacks and shelved alphabetically by the ActEd number.
Most acting editions offer a copy of the play text with more extensive stage directions than found elsewhere. If the show moved from regional theatre to New York or from Off-Broadway to Broadway you may find information on the production history for both productions.
Information Found in Acting Editions
- identify cast in the original production
- identify theatre and opening dates of the first production may also include number of performances
- information may also be provided on director, designers, and stage manager
- character description
- extensive description of the stage as it appeared in the original production
- photo from the production
- identify sound effects and may include information on sound effect recordings available
- property list (or plot) - may give furniture and hand props by act and scene as well as list on which side of the stage to place hand props
- light plot may include gel colors and types of lighting equipment
- costume list for each character by act and scene
- ground plan for each of the scene changes
- provide notes on royalties due for any music used during the performance
- suggestions for press advances and publicity
Full-Text Plays and Streaming Video
- National Theatre Collection 1 & 2 This link opens in a new window
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Video of theatrical performances from the National Theatre, London. - New Play Exchange This link opens in a new windowThe New Play Exchange®, a National New Play Network project, is the world’s largest digital library of scripts by living writers.
- Black Drama This link opens in a new window
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[UW restricted]
An online collection of plays written by African American playwrights. You can search Black Drama by a variety of criteria including subject, keyword, etc. Full text plays. - North American Indian Drama This link opens in a new window
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[UW restricted]
An online collection of plays written by American Indian and First Nation playwrights of the 20th century. You can search North American Indian Drama by a variety of criteria including subject, keyword, etc. Full text plays. - Asian American Drama This link opens in a new window
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Plays from Asian American playwrights along with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. - Donmar Shakespeare Collection This link opens in a new window
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Performances featuring all-female casts in productions of Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest, all set in a women's prison. The prison characters are inspired by real women who have experienced the criminal justice system.
- Ebook Library Drama Books
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Full-text plays (and many other eBooks on Drama) from Oberon, Nick Hern, Methuen Drama, Currency Press, Theatre Communications Group, and others. - Theatre in Video
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[UW restricted]
Contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This release contains 279 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors. - Royal Shakespeare Company
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Collection of high-definition, surround-sound recordings of William Shakespeare’s plays from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Stratford-upon-Avon theater. - Shakespeare's Globe on Screen (2008-2015)
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Video of theatrical performances from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. - Shakespeare's Globe on Screen 2 (2016-2018)
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Video of theatrical performances from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. - ontheboards.tv
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OntheBoards.tv offers high-quality videos of full-length performances by some of today's most provocative artists working in dance, theater, music and other forms that defy categorization. - The Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library (HIDVL)The Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library, a collaboration between New York University Libraries and NYU's Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, provides a digital venue for documenting the expression of social and political life through performance in the many cultures and political landscapes of the Americas. Includes streaming video performances of El Teatro Campesino, Danny Hoch, Split Britches, and others.
- Shakespeare UncoveredShakespeare Uncovered combines history, biography, iconic performances, new analysis, and the personal passions of its celebrated hosts — Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Trevor Nunn, Joely Richardson, and David Tennant — to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. HD-quality streaming versions of the six “Uncovered” episodes can be found, along with character quizzes, two colorful infographics that lay out key plot points from Hamlet, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as links to full broadcast versions of plays from the PBS archive, and lesson plans for teachers who use Shakespeare in the classroom.
- 100 (Monologues)This site is devoted to monologues written by Eric Bogosian featured in theatrical productions between 1980 and 2006. Eric Bogosian originally performed these monologues as segments of Off-Broadway solos directed by Jo Bonney. In 2013, he asked friends if they would each take on a monologue to video. A new monologue from the collection “100 (monologues)” published by Theater Communications Group will be posted weekly.