Research Guides: Drama and Theater Resources: Play Scripts &amp; Librettos

Summon Search Tips for Librettos

To find librettos:

Enter the word "librettos" followed by the show title in its entirety, adding quotation marks to search as a phrase, i.e. librettos "Sweeney Todd"
Limit your search results to content type "Books-e-books" on the left
If needed, additionally limit to subject terms "librettos"

Libretti for Early Operas

Coroago
Repertoire and archive of librettos of Italian melodrama from 1600 to 1900.

Il Corago o vero some observations for staging the dramatic compositions well is a treatise on the staging of the opera performance, compiled around the 1730s by an unidentified author, perhaps Pierfrancesco Rinuccini, son of Ottavio, or Ferdinando Saracinelli. Paraphrasing the title of the treatise, the Corago project intends to offer scholars an ordered and verified information base on Italian melodrama, from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. The reference point of this initiative is the Radames prototype (Repertory and Archiving of Documents Relating to Melodrama And Entertainment), created in 2003 in collaboration with the Department of Music and Entertainment of the University of Bologna: Corago is a first concrete realization of Radames .
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This resource is in Italian, but Google translate does a decent job.

The 914 Drama Library

914 Drama Library
The 914 Drama Library consists of +3,000 scripts and plays. Physical copies can be found at 914 E. Genesee Street. Contact Jim Clark for additional questions.

Play Scripts Online

Drama Online
Playtexts, audio plays, video productions, practitioner videos, photos, and ebooks related to practice and criticism, including works from Arden Shakespeare, Nick Hern Books, TCG Books, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, BBC, L.A. Theater Works, Currency Press and more.
New Play Exchange
Contemporary play scripts, monologues, adaptations, and more from a variety of writers, lyricists, and composers.
Eighteenth Century Drama
Plays from the John Larpent Collection in the Huntington Library, as well as correspondence, diaries, legal and financial documents, and scrapbooks. Plays were those submitted for license from 1737 to 1824. Reference features include the London Stage 1660-1800, Biographical Dictionary database 1660-1800, an image gallery, thematic indexing, and background essays.
Teatro Español del Siglo de Oro
Major 16th and 17th century dramatic works from Spain, including plays by Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes, Calderón de la Barca, Tirso de Molina.
Shakespeare in Performance
Prompt books from the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Digital Guide to Theater of the Middle East
The Digital Guide to Theatre of the Middle East: 21st Century Volume (DGTOME) provides essential information on the most significant plays/performances written and performed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and among their diasporas since 2000.

Tools for Locating Play Scripts in Print

First, try searching the title and author of your play or musical in Summon, the library catalog. For musicals, include the word "librettos," and limit your search results to Content Type --> Books, e-Books

If you do not find what you're looking for, your play or musical might be contained in a collection with other works, like in an anthology or periodical. Check for your play title the following indexes and locate the title of the larger anthology or periodical. Then, search for that larger title in Summon.

Play Index
Index to more than 30,000 plays written from Antiquity to the present and published from 1949 to the present; includes mysteries, pageants, plays in verse, puppet performances, radio and television plays, and classic drama. Also in Bird Library Reference: 1949-1987. REF Z5781 .P55

Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections The standard location tool for full-length plays published in collections and anthologies in England and the U.S. since the beginning of the 20th century.
Call Number: Bird-Reference, 2nd Floor PN1655 .O87 1988
ISBN: 9780810820814
Index to Plays in Periodicals (through 1976) Contains author and title entries for plays appearing in periodicals through 1976.
Call Number: Bird-Reference, 2nd Floor PN1721 .K38
ISBN: 9780810812086
Index to Plays in Periodicals, 1977-1987 This supplement to the revised and expanded edition of Index to Plays in Periodicals (1979) continues the indexing of plays in the periodicals covered in the 1979 volume that still publish plays. It also indexes several journals for the first time. The book, covering 4,605 plays indexed in 104 periodicals from 1977 through 1987, features all types of plays in a variety of languages, from works for children to Broadway hits, classics, and "closet" dramas. The features of the previous index have been retained in this supplement. The book is arranged in two parts: the author index containing the main entry with all information necessary to locate the play, and the title index.
Call Number: Bird-Reference, 2nd Floor PN1721 .K38 Suppl.
ISBN: 9780810822887

More Information on Plays from Publishers

Dramatists Play Service
Publisher of new plays and licensing agency. Search Playfinder by author, title, cast size, gender, length, keyword, and ISBN. Entries on individual plays include evaluations by reviewers and plot summary. Corresponds to print catalog: Dramatists Play Service. Complete Catalog of Plays. New York. REF PN 1601 .D72
Concord Theatricals (formerly Samuel French)
Publishes the latest and classic plays, as well as books on technical (acting, directing, scene design) aspects of the theatre. Author and Title index. Various lists: e.g., Pulitzer Prize-Winning plays, Nobel prize playwrights, old melodramas, plays suitable for readers' theatre, etc. Corresponds to print catalog: Samuel French, Inc. Basic Catalogue of Plays and Musicals. New York. REF PN 1601 .S25
Music Theatre International
Licensing agency for the latest and classic musicals, including concert versions, revues, or professional or school productions. Search their catalog by title, and request a perusal score if the publisher has not released a full piano/vocal score for sale.