Theatre in Context Collection

Experience the history of the theatre through 40,000 pages of monumental reference works, encyclopedias, images, flyers, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks, and other resources that offer a glimpse into the productions of the past.

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Theatre in Context Collection helps students of theatre, literature, and history draw connections between the people who brought key productions and dramatic stories to life—from the director, to the actor, to the design team. With Theatre in Context Collection, students can understand the historical significance of certain plays, their popularity, and their role in shaping dialogue outside of the world of theatre—creating a complete picture of life on the historical stage.

The collection includes 40,000 pages of monumental reference works, encyclopedias, images, flyers, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks, and other resources, including:

Essential reference works that catalogue historic performances from the Broadway stage
Archival playbills that document the major players of the day
Original designs that allow you to reimagine the set
Decades worth of periodicals that provide contemporary reactions to performances

Content Highlights

George C. D. O’Dell’s Annals of the New York Stage (1928)

Fifteen volumes that catalog a virtually complete record of the New York stage from its beginnings until mid‐1894, published by the Columbia University Press.

American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (2001)

A landmark text that offers authoritative summaries on the general artistic trends and developments for each season on musical comedy, operetta, revues, and the one-man and one-woman shows from the first musical to the 1999/2000 season.

The Oxford Companion to the American Theatre (2004)

The “standard”, the essential, one-volume source on American theatre. Provides an up-to-date guide to the American stage from its beginnings to the present