LibGuides: Theatre: Websites

Subject websites

Anyone can publish content on the internet, carefully evaluate free information according to the following criteria:

Accuracy: Can you verify the facts provided on this site? Is a methodology stated?

Authenticity: Consider the author’s credentials. Is it academic discussion? Who owns the site?

Objectivity: Are arguments presented fairly? Is the information biased in its presentation?

Coverage: Is adequate detail provided? Is the information too basic, too complex or irrelevant?

Currency: Is the information time sensitive? When was this website last updated?

Gateways and General Guidance

A Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies
This site is created and maintained by Ken McCoy, Ph.D., an associate professor and chair, from Stetson University in Florida. Founded in 1993, it is regularly updated up and contains theatre web resources arranged by topic. Useful to consult for a global perspective.
Electronic Poetry Center
The Electronic Poetry Center was founded in 1995 and serves as a central gateway to resources in electronic poetry and poetics; hosted by the State University of New York
Harold Pinter.org
Website devoted to the work of the late British playright, director, actor and poet.
Mark Ravenhill on... play writing
OU hosted interview with Mark Ravenhill
PennSound
An ongoing project, committed to producing new audio recordings and preserving existing audio archives; hosted at the University of Pennsylvania.
Performance Magazine Archive
Hosted by Bristol University this is a UK Live Art/Performance magazine from the late 1970s through to the early 1990s which documents the history and development of UK Live Art over this time period.
SIBMAS
The SIBMAS International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions lists over 7,000 international institutions with material relating to the performing arts. Search by institutions, collections or geographical areas.
Sierz Blogspot: Pirate Dog
Featuring the reviews, news and recommendations of Aleks Sierz FRSA who is a Visiting Professor at Rose Bruford College, and author of In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (Faber, 2001) and Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s (Methuen Drama, 2012) amongst many others.
Sierz: New Writing for the British Stage
The website of Aleks Sierz FRSA who is a Visiting Professor at Rose Bruford College, and author of In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (Faber, 2001) and Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s (Methuen Drama, 2012) amongst many others.
TheatreVOICE
Established in 2003 and managed by the Department of Theatre & Performance at the V&A, this site features audio content about British theatre, enabling actors, writers, directors and designers to talk in detail and at length about their work.
UbuWeb
Dedicated to the avant-garde, ethnopoetics and outsider arts this site features a wide range of materials (both text and audiovisual).
Voice of the Shuttle
Provides extensive links to useful and scholarly resources in the arts and humanities, including dance and music
Wikipedia: Harold Pinter
Maintained by Pinter scholar, Mark Taylor-Batty, author of The Theatre of Harold Pinter, amongst others.

Organisations

Arts Council England
Provides comprehensive information about all performing arts and includes links to other resources and information about how to obtain funding.
Artsadmin
A registered charity whose mission is to be an arts lab for the creation of performance, site-specific and interdisciplinary work, where the innovative, experimental and unusual are nurtured.
Contacts
An essential guide for contacts in the entertainment industry; it contains listings for over 5000 companies, services and individuals across all branches of television, stage, film and radio.
Creative Choices
Provides information, advice and resources to help build skills, find new opportunities, and get a better idea about a particular job or career path in the creative and cultural industries.
Dance Films Association (DFA)
Founded in 1956, the DFA serves the global dance film community by providing membership opportunities, connecting artists and organizations, fostering new works for new audiences, and sharing essential resources.
Equity
The UK trade union for professional performers and creative practitioners.
European Network of Information Centres for the Performing Arts (ENICPA)
Includes a searchable database of festivals, venues, information centres, publications and training opportunities. The information is updated by 20 information centres all over Europe. There are also links to information centres and publications in the performing arts.
Higher Education Academy: Dance, Drama and Music
The Higher Education Academy is a national and independent organisation, whose mission is to use their expertise and resources to support the higher education community; the website features a 'reading room' of downloadable publications on all aspects of perfroming arts in higher education.
International Federation for Theatre Research (FIRT/IFTR)
The Federation promotes the exchange and collaboration of information in theatre research. The website includes details of conferences and publications. The links and bulletins section provides a useful listing of theatre and performing arts e-journals.
Live Art Development Agency: Study Room
Established in 1999, the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) is the world’s leading organisation for live art, producing specialised projects, opportunities, resources and publications for those who make, watch, research, study, teach, produce, present, write about and archive live art. Over 6,000 Catalogue items are accessible in LADA's Study Room in London. A selection of these resources can be accessed online.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)
Information about courses, events, actor profiles, theatres for hire, publications and vacancies.
Society for Theatre Research (STR)
A UK organisation focused on the history and techniques of the British theatre. The website provides information on all aspects of the society's activities, including lecturesand a research fund which provides grants to private scholars, theatre professionals, academic staff, and students.
Society for Dance Research (SDR)
The SDR promotes a forum for diverse dance interests in the UK, from the homepage join the listserv to receive email updates. There are lists of forthcoming events, links, publications and an archive.
Society of London Theatre (SOLT)
Founded in 1908 by Sir Charles Wyndham, Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is the organisation that represents the producers, theatre owners and managers of the major commercial and grant-aided theatres in central London.
Spotlight
Founded in 1927, Spotlight has become world renowned for its casting directories and features over 40,000 performers, including actors and actresses, child artists, presenters, dancers and stunt artists.

What's on Listings and Trade Papers

Backstage
Backstage is a trade paper with features, listings, news and reviews of Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
London Theatre Guide - Online
Features news, reviews and listings.
Official London Theatre Guide
Run by Society of London Theatre, the organisation for the London theatre industry, this site features the latest news, features, interviews and comprehensive show listings.
The Stage
Online version of the weekly newspaper, with theatre reviews, listings, jobs and news.
Theatre Reviews Limited
Reviews of various current and past productions in the USA.
UK Theatre Web
Provides useful information on amateur groups and training, it is updated three times a week and provides good links to other resources
What's on Stage
Features news, reviews, features, blogs, discussion boards, a calendar of events and also job opportunities. It is regarded as a key resource for the theatre industry.

Digital Archives

Archive of the Now
The Archive of the Now is a digital and print collection of poetry focusing on audio recordings of experimental and innovative poets performing for live audiences and in studio settings.
British Library Theatre Archive Project
This is a collaboration between the British Library and De Montfort University aiming to reinvestigate British theatre history 1945-1968, from the perspectives of both the theatregoer and the practitioner.
PennSound
An ongoing project, committed to producing new audio recordings and preserving existing audio archives; hosted at the University of Pennsylvania.
Victorian Plays Project
A digital archive of selected plays from T.H. Lacy's Acting Edition of Victorian Plays (1848-1873).

Web search tips

Google Scholar. Try using this to limit your search to scholarly sources.

Google Advanced Search. You can search within a particular domain eg .gov.uk. This will limit your search to UK government publications.

Or, instead of searching the Internet, go directly to the source. We have selected some websites here that could be useful to your search.

"Double quotation marks". If you're searching for the title of a document or searching for a phrase, enclose your search in "double quotation marks".

Digital Performance

Body. Space and Technology Journal
Published in association with the School of Arts at Brunel. It features papers, performances, perspectives and reviews and is edited by Sue Broadhurst and Barry Edwards.
The Centre for Contemporary and Digital Performance
Features details of the Performance Research Seminar Series at Brunel University. It lists a series of encounters, lectures, screenings, physical and new media workshops and discussions, focused on new thinking in performance practices, new media arts, technologies, physical and digital/scientific creativity, and cultural production.
Dance-Tech.net
A social networking site that enables the sharing of work, ideas, research and collaborative projects for dance. Brunel Performance Research Seminars can ve viewed online via Dance-Tech.TV.
The Magdalena Project
An international network of women in contemporary theatre. The website includes details of current activities, including news, events and performances.
Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is the International Competition for Cyber Arts. In 2010 the ‘Golden Nica’ hybrid art prize was awarded to Stelarc for his ‘Ear on Arm’ project. The website features an extensive digital media art archive with details of projects from the past 25 years, including biographies of the artists.
Rhizome
This site is dedicated to the creation, presentation, preservation, and critique of emerging artistic practices that engage technology.
Turbulence
Founded in 1996, the Turbulence project is committed to commissioning, exhibiting, and archiving the new hybrid networked art forms that have emerged.
V2_:Institute for the Unstable Media
Founded in 1981, V2_ presents, produces, archives and publishes art made with new technologies.

Theatre Groups

Shakespeare

Shakespeare in Performance
Searchable database of performance materials from over 1,000 film and stage productions, including director's notes, performance stills, posters, costume designs, cast and crew listings.
Shakespeare in Quarto
The British Library has made available 100+ copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare printed in quarto before the 1642 theatre closures.
Touchstone
Touchstone is a project funded by the British Library Co-operation and Partnership Programme (BLCPP) to identify and map significant UK Shakespeare collections. It aims to encourage research in Shakespeare studies. The site features extensive links to organisations, exhibitions, events, performances and collections.
Hamlet Works
Information on Hamlet and related works, including digital editons of different editions of the play, prompt books and other references.
Internet Shakespeare Editions
Hosted by the University of Victoria, Internet Shakespeare Editions provides open-access, peer-reviewed Shakespeare resources in three main areas: Shakespeare’s plays and poems, Shakespeare’s life and times, and Shakespeare in performance.