Research guides: Drama, Theatre, & Performance Studies: Primary sources

Collections of primary sources for theatre history

Shakespeare Collection
- Includes information on performance history & digitized versions of prompt books
Dramatic Documents from the Elizabethan Playhouses: Stage Plots, Actors' Parts, Prompt Books
Records of Early English Drama, Early Modern London Theatres
- Records from 8 London theatres & an index of related primary & secondary sources
Records of Early English Drama, Patrons & Performances
- Records of professional performances in England & Wales before 1642, including information on patrons & theatre troupes

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
- Books, essays, pamphlets published in Great Britain during the 18th century

Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
- Texts from 1473 to 1700

The London Stage
- Historical London theatre information from 1890 to 1959, including full cast, theatre listings & production info for individual plays
- This series of volumes (one for each decade) was originally published between 1976 and 1993; a second edition was published in 2014, along with a cumulative index.

BROAD SEARCHES: Search for one of the following subject headings:

SPECIFIC SEARCHES: Try combining a playwright's surname (or a play's title in quotation marks) with one of the following subject headings:

Finding Primary Sources
A Research Guide from University of Toronto Libraries
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
Everyone is welcome to use the amazing collection of rare books and manuscripts at U of T's Rare Book Library.
Historical Newspapers
Part of the "Newspapers: Current and Historical" Research Guide, University of Toronto Libraries