Dramaturgical Research
Background Information: Arts, Culture, History, Context
Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica for Schools is a reliable, student-friendly reference platform that provides dramaturgists with accessible background on historical events, cultures, biographies, and concepts—useful for quickly building context around a play’s setting, themes, or characters with authoritative, age-appropriate sources.
Google Arts and Culture This free, easy to search database provides access to primary sources, visual archives, and cultural context that deepen understanding of plays and characters. Here are some ways it helps:
- Historical & Cultural Research Offers high-resolution images of artworks, artifacts, architecture, and clothing from different time periods and regions. Helps dramaturgists understand the social, political, and cultural environments that shaped a play.
- Costume & Set Inspiration Provides visual references for clothing styles, colors, and materials used in specific eras. Includes museum collections and fashion archives that can inform design decisions.
- Contextual Storytelling Features curated online exhibits and timelines that explore themes (e.g., revolutions, folklore, mythology) relevant to theatrical productions. Supplies background on art movements, traditions, and historical figures that might appear in or influence a script.
Library of Congress American Memory Online access to print, pictorial and audio-visual collections and other digital services.
Google Scholar Google Scholar is a free academic search engine that gives dramaturgists access to scholarly articles, books, theses, and criticism—helping them ground productions in research, explore theoretical frameworks, and connect plays to broader historical, cultural, and literary scholarship.
Costumes
Historical Emporium An online retailer specializing in historically inspired clothing and accessories, which can help a dramaturgist by providing authentic-looking costumes and period-appropriate details to support accurate character and production design.
The Factory Theater “A Comprehensive Guide to Theater Costumes: Bringing Characters to Life on Stage” offers dramaturgists a detailed roadmap for selecting, designing, and using costumes to enhance character depth, support storytelling, and align visual elements with historical, thematic, and emotional contexts.General Theatre Resources
National Theatre YouTube Channel The National Theatre YouTube channel offers dramaturgists rich multimedia resources—behind-the-scenes features, rehearsals, interviews, and performance clips—that illuminate staging, actor process, and production design in action.
The Theatre History Professor YouTube Channel The Theatre History Professor YouTube channel provides dramaturgists with scholarly lectures, historical analysis, and theory-focused deep dives into theatre’s evolution, helping to contextualize works, genres, and dramatic conventions.
Broadway Behind The Curtain YouTube Channel The Broadway Behind The Curtain YouTube channel gives dramaturgists insider views into Broadway productions through backstage access, interviews, and production process material, helping deepen understanding of how high-level theatrical works are realized from concept to stage.Internet Broadway Database (IOBDB) Provides a catalogue of shows produced Off-Broadway including title page credits, original cast members and replacements, window card photos, awards won, number of performances and much more.
Spectra Theatre (formerly the Internet Off Broadway Database) Like IBDB, but focused on off-Broadway plays — useful for contemporary and experimental works.
Plays, Scripts, etc.
Playwright Biographies
BDB (Internet Broadway Database) Includes biographies of actors, directors, producers, and some playwrights connected to Broadway productions.
Drama Online Library Contains critical introductions and reference works that often include biographical information about playwrights (especially modern and classic dramatists in their collections).
Google Scholar While not a “biography site,” it links to scholarly articles, theses, and books that often include biographical background in introductions or critical studies.
Encyclopedia Britannica for Schools Offers reliable, concise biographies of major playwrights (e.g., Shakespeare, Sophocles, Ibsen, Lorca).
Victorian Web Includes detailed biographies of Victorian-era playwrights (e.g., Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Gilbert & Sullivan) along with their cultural/historical context.
Project Gutenberg While primarily for texts, it often hosts introductions, memoirs, or collected works editions that contain biographical sketches of playwrights.
Internet Archive Rich source of older biographies and out-of-print critical works on playwrights (public domain or scanned reference books).Shakespeare
Open Source Shakespeare This site offers the complete works of Shakespeare with sorting, searching, and concordance features, which are useful for deep textual analysis.
Folger Shakespeare Library The library's website provides free access to the full texts of Shakespeare's works, along with educational resources on his language and historical context.
Theatre History & Context