The UVU Library Gets Its Bard On

Chandos' portrait of
William Shakespeare

Four hundred years ago this week, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre burnt down for the second time. The rebuilt version was eventually closed down by Oliver Cromwell's Puritan government. A new version was built and opened in 1997. All these theater anniversaries got us thinking about our theater research resources. Here's a quick run down of what we have on offer:

International Index to the Performing Arts

This database offers past and present research on acting, dramaturgy, stage and costume design, theater history, and much more.

Play Performances on DVD

The Library's media collection contains multiple productions of Shakespeare's plays, as well as performances of plays by hundreds of other playwrights. Videos may be checked out for three days. Students and faculty are limited to checking out five videos at a time.

Theater Research Guide

This guide lists useful reference books, article databases, and high quality websites for research on both performance and play explication (criticism). It includes a very handy database called Inter-Play that helps find plays in anthologies.

William Shakespeare Research Guide

Much like the theater research guide, the guide for Shakespeare criticism includes reference books, article databases, and vetted websites. It focuses on understanding and writing about Shakespeare's work rather than on performance.

If you have questions about researching theater or the performing arts, please ask our subject librarian, Kim Rollins. You can also ask at the Reference Desk at (801) 863-8840.