Need a great online source for buying dramatic texts as well as other types of literature?
Whether you are looking for a Greek tragedy, a Shakespearean comedy, or a brand new American play by an up-and-coming playwright, check out the endless options at The Drama Book Shop, Inc. It’s a fabulous New York City indie-shop that has been around since 1917. The site also features a play of the week and a terrific blog.
Websites: The list below contains an alphabetically organized list of links to a variety of drama and theatre resources online, from university and professional websites to theatre companies and relevant organizations, in the U.S. and abroad. If you know of a useful site that is not listed below, please contact me.
13P. This organization, founded in 2003, consists of 13 midcareer American playwrights who strive to write plays and see them through production, rather than subject them to the more recent trend of staged readings and play development programs. All 13 are listed below:
- A CALLAGHAN
- ERIN COURTNEY
- MADELEINE GEORGE
- ROB HANDEL
- ANN MARIE HEALY
- JULIA JARCHO
- YOUNG JEAN LEE
- WINTER MILLER
- SARAH RUHL
- KATHERINE RYAN
- LUCY THURBER
- ANNE WASHBURN
- GARY WINTER
Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. Advocates diversity in film, television, and theater.
Almeida Theatre, London.
American Alliance for Theatre and Education.
American Association of Community Theatre.
American Theatre Wing. Website for the organization that founded the Tony Awards.
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).
Artsearch. Job listings in the Arts, via Theatre Communications Group.
Baltimore Shakespeare Festival.
BAM. America’s oldest continuously running performing arts facility, ested. 1861. Houses BAM Harvey Theater and more.
Business Committee for the Arts.
Clemson Univsersity Shakespeare Festival. Take a virtual tour of the Globe on this site.
Designing Shakespeare. Website for theatre practitioners, students, and scholars to study design history of contemporary stagings.
Donmar Warehouse. London.
Drama Desk. Founded 1949 to explore key issues in the theatre community.
Dramatists Play Service Inc. Licenses and publishes plays by established and new American playwrights.
Duckie. A British venue that strives to mix components of theatre, nightclub, and art show. They identify themselves as “Purveyors of Progressive Working Class Entertainment” and are acutely concerned with issues related to contemporary gender and sexuality.
Educational Theatre Association. Home of the International Thespian Society.
The E-Server Drama Collection. A useful resource with an extensive library of online dramatic texts, from classical to contemporary.
Ford’s Theatre. The recently renovated theatre where Lincoln was assassinated April 14, 1865 is now open again.
Folger Theatre. Washington, D.C. Stoppard’s Arcadia runs May 5th-14th.
Impact Theatre. San Francisco Bay Area theatre company. Berkeley, CA.
Independent Theater Bloggers Association.
Indie Theater. New York’s independent theater scene.
International Centre for Female Playwrights.
International Theatre Institute.
Institute of Outdoor Drama. A Public Service Agency devoted to fostering outdoor drama, founded in 1963 at UNC, Chapel Hill.
Internet Broadway Database (IBDB).
Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Lincoln Center Institute for Arts in Education.
League of Resident Theatres (LORT).
Lincoln Center Theater. NY, NY.
LORT. League of Resident Theatres. Professional US theatre association with 74 member theatres.
Lortel Archives. Also known as IOBDB.com, provides catalogue of shows produced off-Broadway.
MCC Theater. NY, NY. Neil LaBute was playwright-in-residence here for the past 6 yrs, though things have soured as of 6/09 and future of relationship is unknown.
Museum of the City of New York’s Theater Collection. Catalogue of art related to theater in the city from late 18th c. to present.
National Endowment for the Arts.
National Theatre. London.
New England Theatre Conference. Founded 1952.
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
New York Theatre Experience. A nonprofit corporation.
OBIE Awards. By the Village Voice.
Original Works. LA based publisher of plays.
PlayPenn! Annual Philadelphia-based conference for new play development.
Playscripts. Publisher of plays and musicals.
The Public Theater. Force behind Shakpeare in the Park in Central Park, NYC.
The Pulitzer Prizes. Honoring excellence in journalism and the arts since 1917. 2009 Winner: Ruined by Lynn Nottage.
Sarasvati Productions. Toronoto-based Theatre Company.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London.
Shakespeare Online. Useful and extensive list of Shakespeare links.
Southeastern Theater Conference. Ested. 1949.
Stageplays.com The Internet Theatre Bookshop.
Startatheatrecompany.com Pretty much what it sounds like.
Theater 101. Concise guide to Washington, D.C. theatre.
Theaterpro.com A guide to modern plays, playwrights, and productions, created and maintained by Alice Griffin, PhD, professor and theatre critic.
Theatrefolk. Need a script?
TheatreHistory.com A useful and informative website that is international in scope.
Theatricalia. International database of past and future productions.
Total Theater. Website about history of American theater with reviews of intl productions of American work.
Trinity College Dublin, Department of Drama, Film and Music (from which I earned my MA in Irish Theatre and Film) and Home of the Samuel Beckett Theatre.
Tudor Guild. A fantastic theatre bookstore and gift shop in Oregon.
University/Resident Theater Association.
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
Woman’s Will. San Francisco Bay Area’s All-Female Shakespeare Company.
Women’s Project at The Julia Miles Theater. Ested. in 1978 by Julia Miles, Women’s Project touts itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest company dedicating to producing and promoting theater created by women. Julie Crosby recently took over as Producing Artistic Director.
DRAMA, DAILY 
Drama rocks!
Great site! Great list of drama websites, but you forgot Playscripts, Inc. http://www.playscripts.com/
And please check out Coyote’s Christmas Carol at http://coyote.mac222.com
Gracias!
This is an awesome list! Well done. Check out our Toronto theatre blog: http://www.theatromania.ca
Please consider including a link to ArtReach Children’s Theatre Plays as a source of dramatic materials, scripts and plays for young audiences. See website below for more information. Thank you!