Introductory Tips
- Most playscripts are located in Arts Library Selected Plays and Monologues, Young Research Library (YRL), and Powell Library. Some will also be housed in remote storage at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF). At YRL and Powell, plays are interfiled with other literature and drama history/criticism. At the Arts Library, they are shelved in one location with other plays.
- Use the Advanced Search of UC Library Search in order to limit to only UCLA Library holdings. After you conduct a search, you can also filter by individual library location and format.
- Loan periods may differ depending on the Library, but you can usually renew titles you have checked out unless they are recalled.
- Most individual plays and anthologies have very broad cataloging by subject, and will have subject headings that end with "drama" (example: "English Drama--Restoration").
UC Library Search
- UCLA Library Catalog (excluding articles) This link opens in a new windowThe UCLA Library Catalog scope searches holdings of the UCLA Library but does NOT include journal articles.
- UC Library Search This link opens in a new window
UC Library Search is the unified discovery and borrowing system for all 10 UC Campuses. Select the UCLA Library Catalog scope to search holdings of materials owned by the UCLA Library and other UCLA collections, whether online or in print. Does not contain full-text articles or article citations. Select the Articles, books and more scope to search for materials in all 10 UC campuses. More information in this guide.
Discovery Sources: Lists and Monologues
- Alternative CanonList of non-Western plays, plays by Black, Indigenous, people of color, by women and by queer writers from before 1945.
- Expand the Canon (Hedgepig Ensemble)Annual curated list of producible classic plays by women and underrepresented genders. Some titles available online.
- The Refocus Project at Roundabout Theatre CompanyThe Refocus Project is a multi-year project to elevate and restore marginalized plays to the American canon.
- UC Irvine: Drama TitlesThis UCI guide tags drama titles by cast and playwright identify categories, including gender, sexuality, nationality, and ethnicity. Many of the drama titles listed will also be available in UCLA collections, so you can use the UCI tags to more precisely identify relevant content.
The Kilroys List: 97 Monologues and Scenes by Female and Trans Playwrights, Volume One by ISBN: 9781559368568Date: 2017-03-20From The Kilroys, an advocacy group founded in 2013 to raise awareness for the underutilized work of female and female-identifying playwrights. The collection is comprised of monologues from a survey to locate the most highly-regarded, underproduced plays by women and trans playwrights.
The Kilroys List: 67 Monologues and Scenes by Women and Nonbinary Playwrights, Volume Two by ISBN: 9781559369541Date: 2020-06-09The Kilroys are back with a new collection of 67 monologues and scenes by women and nonbinary playwrights. This collection includes a monologue or scene from each play from the 2016 and 2017 editions of The List.
Monologues for Actors of Color: Men by ISBN: 9781138857247Date: 2016-05-26Roberta Uno has carefully selected monologues that represent African-American, Native American, Latino, and Asian-American identities. Each monologue comes with an introduction and notes on the characters and stage directions to set the scene for the actor.
Monologues for Actors of Color: Women by ISBN: 9781138857278Date: 2016-05-27Roberta Uno has carefully selected monologues that represent African-American, Native American, Latino, and Asian-American identities. Each monologue comes with an introduction and notes on the characters and stage directions to set the scene for the actor.
- Non-Binary MonologuesWebsite that collects and shares monologues written for non-binary actors.
Play-Finding Tools, Including in Collections and Periodicals
These sources can help you identify a play by subject or by cast size and other factors. Some of them also help you locate where plays are published in collected works and anthologies, which is common for short plays.
- Play Index This link opens in a new windowIdentifies plays by topic, and also can help locate anthologies containing an individual play.
- Inter-PlayIndexes citations for international plays and playwrights in selected collections, anthologies, and periodicals. No longer updated as of December 2013.
- Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections: An Author and Title Index to Plays Appearing in Collections Since 1900Indexes play titles in over 700 different collections, with appendixes arranging authors by country, racial, and ethnic group; femal authors, and authors by sexual orientation.
- Oxford Dictionary of PlaysEach entry includes details of the title, author, date of writing, date of first performance, genre, setting, and composition of cast; there is also a summary of the play's plot, and a brief commentary.
- PlayFinder (Dramatists Play Service)Look up plays published by DPI with keywords, and limiters by cast size/gender.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowIncludes full text of periodicals like American Theatre which sometimes publish copies of playtexts. Search/limit by title of play and author.
Call Number Ranges
The best way to search for a specific play title at the UCLA Library is to check search UC Library Search for the title and author. Some plays may be held in other campus libraries, checked out to another patron, or on course reserve. Most playscripts are located in Arts Library Selected Plays and Monologues, Young Research Library (YRL), and Powell Library. Some will also be housed in remote storage at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF). At YRL and Powell, plays are interfiled with other literature and drama history/criticism. At the Arts Library, they are shelved in one location with other plays.
Plays are arranged by Library of Congress broad call number ranges:
ML: Musical librettos (most libretti are housed in the Music Library)
PA: Classical plays (Greek and Latin)
PG: Slavic, Baltic, and Albanian plays
PJ: Egyptian, Libyan, Berber, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopian plays
PK: Indo-Iranian, Armenian, and Georgian plays
PL: Eastern Asia, Africa, and Oceanic plays
PN1600-3307: General drama (includes some monologue and scene books)
PN6110-6120: General drama collections
PQ: Western European plays, Romance languages (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America)
PR: British and Commonwealth plays (includes Canada, Australia, Anglophone Africa)
PS: American (U.S.) plays
PT: Germanic plays (includes Dutch, Scandinavian, Afrikaans, and Icelandic)