THEATRE TOPICS 

Theatre History Resources

Send more link suggestions in this category to Richard Finkelstein 

Who knows but one generation, always remains a child! - Norlin

 Artslynx Exclusive Materials

General & Master Sites

• Theatrehistory.com - Excellent resource!
• Atlantic Canada Theatre - Loads of primary research materials relating to Canadian theatre history
• BRITISH  DRAMA 1890 TO 1950 A CRITICAL HISTORY     by   Richard Farr Dietrich - The entire text of this book is online. Wonderful resource!
• Classicaltheatre.com - This site includes many articles and essays on Shakespeare and other classical genres.
• Theatre History Sites on the WWW - LOADS of links!
• THEATRON- Theatre History in Europe: Architectural and Textual Resources Online
• Virtual Library of Theatre and Drama - Very rich in resources for the Theatre researcher
• Musicals 101 - Great site. Lots of resources including a number that are history related.
• Theatres on Postcards - An incredible visual database of theatre building images around the world 
• History of Canadian Theatre for Young Audiences - Canadian Encyclopedia

Ancient, Greek & Roman

• Aristophanes links from Artslynx
• The Classical Origins of Western Culture - Lots of study guides available
• Didaskalia: Ancient Theater Today
• Euripides links from Artslynx
• Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
• Sophocles Resource Link Library from Artslynx 

Medieval

• Medieval Drama Links
• Medieval Plays
• Centre for Research in Early English Drama, Records of Early English Drama

Shakespeare and Elizabethan

• Artslynx Shakespeare Links

Restoration   

Renaissance and Baroque

• Baroque Theatre - Lots of playwright links
• The Development of Scenic Spectacle

Eighteenth Century

• Voltaire's Little Theater at the Chateau Cirey 
• British Women Playwrights around 1800 

Broadway History

• A History of Broadway's Theatres
• Internet Broadway Database - Best site for dates, cast lists, etc.

Nineteenth Century

• Footlight Notes: Amazing Site of images from the music hall and Vaudeville era. An RF favorite!
• The American Vaudeville Museum
• Black Broadway - Traces the development of African-American Theatre
• Emile Campardon's LES SPECTACLES DE LA FOIRE - Placed online by Barry Russell, this edition, originally published in 1877, is a monumental assemblage of primary archival material and scholarly notes
  addressing the professional and private lives of the people who were engaged in French fairground and boulevard entertainments between 1670 and 1800
• English Actors at the turn of the Twentieth Century WONDERFUL Collection.
• The Golden Age of Theatre (1880-1920) - Incredible collection of images and biographies, postcards, playbills, etc.       
• Minstrel Shows Website from Paloweb
• Shakespeare and the players - A survey through postcards and photos of the many  English and American actors who played Shakespeare's characters for late Victorian and Edwardian audiences. Great visual resource! ***
• The History of American Popular Entertainment from Minstrelsy to Madonna - Quite an extensive resource!
• Theatre Ephemera - Outstanding collection of theatre photographs from the 19th century. People and theatres are depicted. Well organized collection.      
• Playbills from Edinburgh’s Theatre Royal - Tremendous collection of images    
• The Theatrical Syndicate - Nice account! 
• A-1 Video Vaudeville Collection - Hundreds of acts available on a series of seven videotapes    
   

Twentieth Century Resources  

• American Vaudeville Museum - Based in Boston but lots of resources on the web
• Vaudeville - American Variety Stage - Library of Congress
• British Drama. 1890 TO 1950, A Critical History, by
• Richard Farr Dietrich 
• English Actors at the turn of the Twentieth Century 
• Early Twentieth Century Russian Drama - Profiles writers, designers, directors.
• Federal Theatre Project Collection at The US Library of Congress
• The Golden Age of Theatre (1880-1920) - Incredible collection of images and biographies, postcards, playbills, etc.       
• PBS - Changing Stages Program Guide - Includes extensive timelines and information   
• Historic American Sheet Music - images from Duke University. Great site!
• Mercury Theatre On the Air - Radio broadcasts actually but an amazing history resource on the early work of Orson Welles. The site includes many many actual broadcasts
• Twentieth Century Russian Theatre - Resources on plays, designers, directors, etc.  
• Burlesque - From Dance History Archives. This page offers a delightful bibliography of shows, films, books, and more.  
• History of Actors Equity and Related Unions   

Comedia, Italian & Spanish

• Quelques ressources sur la Commedia dell'Arte trouvées sur Internet.  - Wonderful collection of links on Comedia Del Arte, physical theatre, puppetry and similar topics. Lots of links are dead though
• Comedia del Arte - Includes sketches and illustrations on the major characters
• Quelques ressources sur la Commedia dell'Arte trouvées sur Internet - From French Canada but with many links to both French and English pages

The Stock Characters: Arlecchino (Italian) Harlequin (French) Delpiano.com  Capitano  Colombina I Dottori Delpiano.com Gratiano - The Lawyer    Pantalone Delpiano.com  Pulcinella Delpiano.com

Classifications: Amarosi (the lovers)  Vecchi, (old male characters)  Gratiano - The Lawyer  Pantalone Zanni Arlechino/Harlequin

Other History Resources Organized Geographically

Australia

• Australian Theatre History Online - Nice resource

French  

• Quelques ressources sur la Commedia dell'Arte trouvées sur Internet.  
• Voltaire's Little Theater at the Chateau Cirey 
• Moliere Resources from Artslynx

Germany

Oriental

• Noh Drama Texts

Other   

• Federal Theatre Project Archives at The Library of Congress
• Theatre Research in Canada
• American Society for Theatre Research
• Theatres website - Profiles the building structures and historical seasons of theatres from Broadway and beyond. 

Send mail to rfinkels@msn.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2006  Last modified: August 11, 2007