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Reference
Reviews, March 2005
American Reference Books Annual
2005
Review from: Reference
Reviews, March 2005
The latest volume in the long-running Wilson series, a
popular reference source for over 50 years, Play Index 1998-2002 will be
of interest to teachers, students, drama coaches, theatre groups,
directors and researchers. Greenfieldt has identified 4,114 plays written
in or translated into the English language and published individually or
in collections during the dates under review and includes every type of
drama from classic material to radio and television plays and even puppet
performances. The entry for each play provides a descriptive annotation
that summarizes the plot or dramatic action, notes the number of acts,
scenes and cast, gives the number of sets required for production and
indicates where there are dancing or musical requirements. Plays suitable
for children and young people are marked. Complete bibliographical
information is provided. The book appears in its usual black cloth
binding…the binding is good and strong.
It should be noted that there will shortly be an
electronic edition of Play Index that will facilitate searching of over
44,000 plays contained in all the cumulated volumes of the title.
Review from:
American Reference Books Annual
2005
This reference work continues a tradition that started
in 1949 of providing information about plays published that are either
written in English or translated into English from a variety of venues
(e.g., stage, radio, television)This volume covers 4,114 such publications
from to 1998 to 2002. However many plays not covered in the previous
edition appear here….Entries are alphabetically cross-listed by author,
subject, style, genre, and setting. Extensive information is provided only
for author entries. These entries supply information such as play title,
plot summary, number of acts and scenes, number of sets, cast size, genre
distribution, musical requirements (if any), and where one can obtain the
script.
A very useful cast analysis index is provided for all of
the plays. It will help the reader locate and select plays by type and
cast characteristics (e.g., all comedies that have casts of two females
and five males). This index is invaluable for finding plays to suit
available talent. A second index lists all of the sources used by the
editor to construct this work.
Every high school, college, and community theater should
have this reference work on their shelves. It is of great use for those
groups in guiding them in the possible selection of plays to perform. |
