Research Guides: Theatre: Monologues & Plays

Monologues

You'll find monologues online and in print through the Drama Online database and through the Auraria's catalog. Check out the links below.

Drama Online This link opens in a new window
Specify the kind of monologue you want from a contemporary or classic play by choosing the Monologue under Type using the advanced search.

Monologue Collections in the Auraria Library
All kinds are available!

Find Plays in the Library

The Auraria Libray has a large collection of single and collected plays, in print and online. Here are resources and methods to use to find them.

Here are ways to use Skyline or the Start My Research search box, linked below, to locate plays:

Try an author search using the playwright's name or a title search in these tools.
Try a keyword search using a play's title.
Try a subject search to browse through many different options.

Combine a a subject or other descriptive word or phrase, such as a nation of origin, group of actors, or time period with words like these:
- Drama
- Plays
- Monologues
Just typing in a those performance types will also, frequently, bring up many results.

Keyword search examples:

American Drama
Children's Plays
Drama Medieval
Musicals
One Act Plays

Borrow plays from other libraries. If the Auraria Library doesn't have the play you need, maybe a local library does.

Prospector
Click here to efficiently search libraries statewide to borrow what you need.
Interlibrary Loan
Try this service to borrow plays from libraries beyond Colorado.

Identify Plays by Criteria

Identify just the type of play you need by choosing such criteria as number of characters, genre, actor gender, and more using any of the play-finding tools below. Then, see if you can borrow a copy from Auraria Library, another library, or on the Web. If not, check out purchase options below.

Drama Online This link opens in a new window
The Drama Online Library features full text plays from both iconic and contemporary playwrights. All plays may be downloaded or printed. Additionally, this collection supplies writings on playwrights and theatre-related topics through online scholarly works and practical guides. Locate plays by title, playwright, genre, the number of cast members, and the number of scenes. Monologues are easily identified. Information on production rights is attached to every play. Users can create character grids for all plays, showing which scenes each character is in and offering the ability to see only the lines and stage directions of one character. Use IE or Firefox.

Samuel French
Identify plays from this major publisher based on type of play, genre, type of performance group, and cast size.
Dramatists PlayFinder
Search the thousands of plays Dramatists Play Service sells to search plays by length of performance, overall cast size, and number of female and male characters.
Playscripts.inc - FindaPlay Page
This free site identifies thousands of plays published by Playscripts by numerous criteria, including length, setting, genre, cast size, gender breakdown, place of production (i.e. high school, professional theatre, etc.), and theme.
HaveScripts.com
Find plays published by HaveScripts using a variety of criteria.
IBDB: Internet Broadway Database
Identify shows at this free site by such criteria as genre, cast size, and show description.
StagePlays.com ScriptFinder
Find plays using a variety of criteria sold by a number of play publishers. These represent those plays that StagePlays.com has for sale.

Free Full-Text Plays Online

In addition to the thousands of online plays available through the Auraria Library (see previous column), there are some great websites offering full-text plays. Know of more free play sites? Let us know via the comments link below!

Folk Play Research
A collection of information, history, and galleries about Folk Plays also known as mummer's plays. Search through the various collections to find specific texts and content.
Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Plays of Charles Mee
Plays of Thomas Middleton
Broadway Play Publishing
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a massive collection of text and media and includes plays in the public domain.

Play Publishers

Find Plays in Collections

A play you want may be part of a collection of plays available at Auraria Library or other libraries. Or a play may have been published in a magazine - but nowhere else! The indexes below helps you identify where some elusive plays might be found.

Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections by John H. Ottemiller; Denise L. Montgomery
ISBN: 9780810877214
Publication Date: 2011-07-01

Drama Indexes at Auraria Library

Streaming Videos

Check out these special streaming video collections the Library supplies!

Theatre in Video This link opens in a new window
Online access to hundreds of plays captured in live performance, as well as theatre documentaries featuring discussions with actors, playwrights, and directors.

BroadwayHD Channel in AVON
These are a small percentage of leased BroadwayHD theatre performance videos within the Academic Video Online database.

Opera in Video This link opens in a new window
A collection of Western operas captured on video. Selections include known performers, conductors, and opera houses and inclusion is based on a work's importance to the operatic canon. Users can view operas scene by scene, read transcripts, and select and share clips.
BBC Shakespeare Plays This link opens in a new window
This streaming video collection contains these Shakespeare plays, all with closed captions available: All's Well that Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, Henry IV - Parts 1 & 2, Henry V, Henry VI - Parts 1, 2, & 3, Henry VII, Julius Caesar, King John, King Lear, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice, Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Pericles, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo & Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, Troilus & Cressida, Twelfth Night, and Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Below is a sample clip from the Theatre in Video collection.

Free Theatre Videos Online

American Theatre Wing: Working in the Theatre
Bringing together performers, directors, playwrights, designers, choreographers, producers and behind-the-scenes personnel from the American and international theatre, the program offers a rare opportunity for students and audiences to see the people who create theatre engaged in theatre engaged in thoughtful conversation with one another. Other programs featuring even more expert conversations are also on this site.
Archive of American Television
Founded in 1997, the Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television has conducted over 700 oral history interviews with the legends of television. These interviews chronicle the birth and growth of American TV History. The Archive’s vision is to chronicle electronic media history as it evolves, and make the interviews available worldwide. The Archive continues to produce new interviews every year. The collection covers a variety of professions, genres, and topics in television history
Variety Stage Motion Pictures
Includes animal acts, burlesque, dance, comic sketches, dramatic excerpts, dramatic sketches, physical culture acts, and tableaus. The films represented date from copyrights of 1897 to 1920.