AusStage is a bibliographic resource that comprehensively covers live performance like spoken‐word theatre, dance, circus, comedy, and musical theatre. Musical performances such as concerts are not included. Dates encompass European settlement of Australia through to the current day. AusStage is an index, though some records will link through to online resources like digitised reviews.
AusStage was conceived as a national theatre research database in 1999 to index performing arts and to develop a research resources directory, the history and the scope of the project fascinates. The About section of the site gives considerable detail about the origins, and Stone (2004) also gives a great account of how the database began, including how AusStage managed to “create a searchable database of ephemeral information from ephemeral sources”. Performing arts ephemera is material like posters and programmes. AusStage was initiated by theatre academics from eight universities in conjunction with other organizations like theatre companies. In 2006 AusStage expanded its partnership to 22 other universities. RMIT University is a recent and current partner.
The site is organized into basic search or browse sections. The browse section is limited to a selection, but gives a good overview of the type of contributor records in the collection. Contributors are people who are playwrights, actors, sound engineers, set designers, choreographers and so on. Users can browse Contributor, Organization, and Venue records. The search section is divided into four: Basic Search, Event Search, Resource Search, and What's On. The Basic search begins with All Records but can be limited further by Events, Contributors, Organizations, Venues, and Resources. The results can be sorted by Name, Date, Venue, and State. To list all collections in the database, go to the Resources search, and click on Collections.
Given the ubiquity of “one box” basic searches, users might take some time to realise the Search Words Using box below the basic search field is the limiter for basic Boolean searching. The default option is And. If care is not taken, even if a phrase is enclosed in quotation marks, a search done for the playwright and novelist Patrick White will return records where the first name “Patrick” will be noted for one cast member, and a last name of “White” for another. Limit it to Exact Phrase in the Search Words Using box and two records will be returned: one for the actor, author, playwright Patrick White, and another for a separate Patrick White who appeared as an actor in a 1989 amateur university theatre production. Better yet, try the Contributor option.
Small anomalies exist. A search for former playwright Sarah Brill using an exact phrase in the Basic All Records search returns nothing, yet a search under Contributor will. This exception probably occurs because AusStage directs the user to The Australian Plays database, where she features although she is not directly catalogued in the AusStage database itself.
Delving further into the advanced functions of the Event or Resource Search reveals multiple drop‐down boxes to limit searches to professional or amateur productions of absurdist plays, for example. Advertisements, cast lists, choreographic scores and even dissertations are indexed. Broad searches can also be executed such as finding out all the professional productions referred to in the database.
The resources directory is wonderful for unearthing “hidden” collections. For example, David Williamson is an established playwright, probably the most successful playwright in the nation. Searches reveal David Williamson archival collection held at the Australian Defence Force Academy Library, along with the Papers of David Williamson collection held by the National Library of Australia. A look at the Contributor record for Williamson reveals not only the extensive list of his play productions, but also a large resource list of related materials like articles, chapters, play scripts, and books.
Like most electronic index resources, some experimentation with searches will teach the most about finding information, though the left hand menu contains a detailed Help menu. The finer details of the resource like unearthing collections require exploration and may not be immediately apparent. Persistence is rewarded though.
AusStage is a superb resource, well worth an investigation for any researcher of Australian performing arts. It is also very useful for the curious or creators like playwrights and actors, to keep historic track of reviews or articles about a show.
