The First King's Theatre, London (image from the British Library Online)

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Trapido, Joel et al., eds. An International Dictionary of Theatre Language.
REF PN2035.I5 1985

The most comprehensive dictionary of its kind.

Banham, Martin, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. New ed.
REF PN2035.C27 1995

Esslin, Martin. intro. The Encyclopedia of World Theater: with 420 Illustrations and an Index of Play Titles.
PN2035.E52 1977

Hartnoll, Phyllis. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th ed.
REF PN2035.O9 1983

Hochman, Stanley, et al., eds. Encyclopedia of World Drama: An International Reference Work in 5 Volumes. Mcgraw-Hill, 2nd. ed.
REF PN1625.M3 1984

Guides to Primary Sources

Ottemiller, John H. Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections: An Author and Title Index to Plays Appearing in Collections Published Between 1900 and 1985. 7th ed., revised and enlarged by Billie M. Connor & Helene G. Mochedlover
REF Z5781 .O8 1988

Lists English-language plays.

Sample, Gordon. The Drama Scholars' Index to Plays and Filmscripts: A Guide to Plays and Filmscripts in Selected Anthologies, Series, and Periodicals.
2 vols. (1974-1980)
REF Z5781 .S17

Useful for locating plays in English and other languages.

West, Dorothy Herbert, et al., eds. Play Index (1949-)
REF PN6112.5 .Z99 P5 (1949-1997)

Lists English-language plays of all periods published since 1949. Annotated with plot summaries, etc. Includes a subject-index.

Compilations of Criticism and Guides to Secondary Sources

Gale Information Guide Library series:

• English Drama to 1660, Excluding Shakespeare: A Guide to Information Sources. ed. Frieda Elaine Penninger (1976).
  REF Z2014 .D7P46
• English Drama, 1660-1800: A Guide to Information Sources. ed. Frederick M. Link (1976).
  REF Z2014 .D7 L55
• English Drama and Theatre, 1800-1900: A Guide to Information Sources. (1978).
  REF Z2014 .D7 C72
• Afro-American Poetry and Drama, 1760-1975: A Guide to Information Sources. ed. William P. French (1979).
  REF Z1229 .N39 A37
• American Drama to 1900: A Guide to Information Sources. ed. Walter J. Meserve (1980).
  REF Z1231 .D7 M45
• Modern Drama in America and England, 1950-1970: A Guide to Information Sources. ed. Richard Hough Harris.
  REF Z1231 .D7 H36 1982

These volumes begin with lists of general and historical sources; separate entries for dramatists list resources including works, letters, biographies, and critical studies.

Dictionary of Literary Biography (Gale British Dramatists) Series:

• Elizabethan Dramatists. ed. Fredson Bowers.
  REF PR651 .E48 1987
• Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists. ed. Fredson Bowers.
  REF PR671 .J33 1987
• Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists, First Series. [Dramatists Born 1621-1666], ed. Paula R. Backscheider.
  REF PR701 .R4 1989
• Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists, Second Series. [Dramatists Born 1670-1727], ed. Paula R. Backscheider.
  REF PR701 .R42 1989
• Modern British Dramatists, 1900-1945. ed. Stanley Weintraub.
  REF PR623 .M63 1982
• British Dramatists since World War II. ed. Stanley Weintraub. 2 vols.
  REF PR106 .B74 1982

These illustrated volumes in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series provide a brief critical biography, a list of primary works and productions, and a very selective list of secondary works for each dramatist.

Corbin, Peter, and Douglas Sedg. An Annotated Critical Bibliography of Jacobean and Caroline Comedy (Excluding Shakespeare).
REF Z2014 .D7 C75 1988t

Fordyce, Rachel. Caroline Drama: A Bibliographic History of Criticism. 2nd ed.
REF Z2014 .D7 F67 1992

King, Kimball. Twenty Modern British Playwrights: A Bibliography 1956 to 1976. (1977)
REF Z2014 .D7 K47

Lidman, Mark J. Studies in Jacobean Drama, 1973-1984: An Annotated Bibliography.
REF Z2014 .D7 L5 1986

Riggs, Thomas, ed. Contemporary Dramatists. 6th ed.
REF PR737 .C57 1999

A biographical outline, a brief critical essay, and lists of primary and secondary works for each of 433 living English-language dramatists.

Stein, Rita. Major Modern Dramatists.
REF PN1861 .M27 1984

Excerpts of criticism on Western playwrights of international renown from the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Trudeau, Lawrence J., ed. Drama Criticism: Criticism of the Most Significant and Widely Studied Dramatic Works from All the World's Literatures. (1991- )
REF PN1721 .D72t

Excerpts of criticism on the most frequently studied playwrights of all time periods and nationalities. Holdings: vol. 1 only.