Use reference sources for background information such as biographies, play summaries, theatre and company histories, and explanations of performance forms and theory.
This is a short list of major encyclopedias in theater; more can be found below as ebooks, under the Design and Theatre History tabs in this guide, in the Main Library Reference stacks, or in GIL-Find.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
Dennis Kennedy, ed.
1st floor Ref PN2035 .O94 2003 v. 1-2
World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre
Peter Nagy & Phillippe Rouyer, eds.
1st floor Ref PN1861 .W67 1994
v. 1 Europe / v. 2 The Americas / v. 3 Africa / v. 4 The Arab World / v. 5 Asia/Oceania
The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama
Gabrielle H. Cody & Evert Sprinchorn, eds.
1st floor Ref PN1861 .C65 2007
International Dictionary of Theatre
Mark Hawkins-Dady, ed.
1st floor Ref PN2035 .I49 1996
v. 1 Plays / v. 2 Playwrights / v. 3 Actors, Directors, and Designers
Literature Resource Center
Good source for biographies of playwrights.
