Theater and Dance Research Guide 

What's Here

The Drama Collection at the Arts Library is a highly active collection that meets many designers' immediate needs, and often browsing the shelves is sufficient.

However, designers often need (or want) to explore beyong the typical resources. Play productions demand creativity and often knowledge of historical designs; looking at a wide variety of materials can inform and inspire the working designer. Hundreds of books on stage design and technology (including sets, costumes, lights, sound, makeup and props) are available at Sterling Memorial Library, Bass, the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA), even the Engineering Library -- and at LSF (the off-campus Library Shelving Facility).  Books displaying designs for theater, dance, opera, outdoor environments, city streets and other locations can be almost anywhere.

To find Yale's many resources, you need to use Orbis.  This page describes some techniques for locating them, along with selected reference materials.

• Strategies for Searching Orbis
• Selected Reference Resources

See also Photos & Illustrations for more information on finding illustrations.

Strategies for Searching Orbis

The following subject headings should give you an idea of the searches you can perform in Orbis in order to find materials.  Notice that sometimes there are several headings for one broad topic.

Selected Reference Resources

A Bibliography of Theatre Technology: Acoustics and Sound, Lighting, Properties, and Scenery. John T. Howard. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982.

Arts Library Reference, Z5784 S8 H68 1982 (LC)

Costumes and Settings for Staging Historical Plays. Jack Cassin-Scott. Boston: Plays, inc., 1979.

Arts Library Stacks, PN2067 +C34 1979 (LC)

v. 1. The Classical period.--v. 2.The Medieval period.--v. 3. The Elizabethan and Restoration period.--v. 4. The Georgian period.

The Costume Page: Costume Resources Online

An extensive portal to costume and costuming-related links, including sites on costume history as well as practical resources.

The Costumer's Manifesto

An enormous list of links to images, collections, and information about costumes through the ages. The manifesto itself is worthwhile reading for everyone involved in theater production, not just designers.

Documenting: Lighting Design.  Performing arts resources 25 (2007).

Arts Library, Z6935 P47

Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion. Ed. Valerie Steele. Farmington Hills, MI : Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005.

SML & Arts Library Stacks, GT507 E53 2005 (LC)+ Oversize

Encyclopedia of stage lighting. Jody Briggs. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2003.

Arts Library Stacks, PN2091.E4 B66 2003 (LC)

The historical encyclopedia of costumes. Albert Racinet. New York, N.Y : Facts on File, 1988.

SML Reference, GT510 R3313 1988

Stagecraft Mailing List

The Stagecraft mailing list is for the discussion of all aspects of stage work, such as costumes, lighting, props, scenery, sound and special effects, as well as company management, hall management, hall design, and show production. It has a searchable archive.

Theatrical costume, masks, make-up and wigs: a bibliography and iconography. Sidney Jowers and John Cavanagh. London; New York: Routledge; Romsey: Motley Press, 2000.

SML & Arts Library stacks, Z5691 J68X 2000 (LC)+ Oversize

Theatre and architecture - stage design - costume: a bibliographic guide in five languages (1970-2000). Véronique Lemaire. Bruxelles; New York: P.I.E. Peter Lang, c2006.

Arts Library Stacks, NA6821 .L46 2006 (LC)

The visual history of costume. Aileen Ribeiro and Valerie Cumming. London: Batsford, c1989.

YCBA Reference, GT510 R52 1989 (LC)

The worldwide history of dress. Patricia Rieff Anawalt. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007.

Bass Stacks & YCBA Reference, GT511 .A53 2007 (LC)