Drama Online is a remarkably handsome database focussed on plays, theatre, craft and drama criticism. Yet, good looks aside, as Shakespeare's Hamlet said, “The play's the thing”. That is, how a database looks is mostly irrelevant because the content is the most important consideration. And Drama Online excels in the provision of content. Plays from ancient times all the way through to contemporary are included. Examples of playwrights are Aeschylus, Bertolt Brecht, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, Caryl Churchill, and David Hare.
Not only is full-text of many plays provided, so too are practitioner manuals such as A Practical Guide to Working in Theatre by Gill Foreman. Better yet, as outlined on the About page, for those who have a more scholarly approach, the plays and other texts will be accompanied by “ … scholarly notes, annotated texts, critical analysis … theatre history surveys and major reference works on authors, movements, practitioners, periods and genres” (www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/about). This is before the user even gets to the production stills from the Victoria and Albert Museum, useful for those interested in costume design and theatre history. This richness of resources is provided by content partners Methuen Drama, Faber and Faber, The Arden Shakespeare, Bloomsbury Publishing, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. These publishers are known for their commitment to drama. Methuen has published drama since 1889.
Added to the published material available, is a tool specific to Drama Online. The Play Tool analyses specific texts for “Character Grids, Words and Speech graphs” (www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/about). This means that scholars or students can – with the help of this nifty tool – examine given speeches and lines of each character within a play. Actors will also find this tool of great use in discovering audition pieces. Indeed, the actor (or any user) can refine a search to unearth, for example, a monologue in the character of a dog, or a play with a cast large enough so that all the people in a drama club could have a role.
Another useful feature – Themes of the Plays – is found at the base of individual plays or can be found in a search. For example, a search for “failure” and “ambition” will show David Hare's The Absence of War. If the subscriber went straight to the play itself, as well as themes, Drama Online also lists place settings – in this instance, London, England – genre and period. Genre can be as specific as “political theatre” in this case, or mime, poor drama, TV and screen drama, among many others.
A simple search can be launched from the home page, or indeed any page. An advanced search has a number of options and supports Boolean operators, quotation marks to encase exact phrases, and the asterisk as the wild card operator. The Advanced Search is a cross between a guided search which contains a drop-down list to set parameters, and a free search in the simple box. The parameters are: Type (such as a monologue), Playwrights and Practitioners (such as directors and cast for produced plays), Genre, Period, Theme, and Setting. Searches can also be refined or set to specify a male or female or other character, along with the number of words spoken by individual characters or the play overall. The only minor weakness with the search function – and this is a matter of personal preference – is that the search remembers that the user last searched, for example, “ageing” – and refines the search further within “ageing”. To start a new search the user seems to have to return to the search box on the home page. This is for searches conducted in one session, one after another. A “clear” button might be useful.
Users can print sections of texts, follow up on getting the permission rights to perform a play where applicable, and also sign up for a personal account that allows them to bookmark material, save searches, and to make personal notes. The design of the site also uses a generous sized font, not so large as to be off-putting but easy to read.
At the time of writing this review Drama Online is in Beta form: a remarkably rich, diverse, and high functioning Beta form that would encourage this reviewer to sign up to this database even if, for some odd reason, no further content was ever added. In addition to the plays themselves, content also includes cast members, directors and designers of specific performances. Given the breadth and diversity of the content offered – and that the content is full-text – Drama Online is highly recommended for any library with a performing arts or dramatic literature focus.
