Here at CityLibrary we love drama. Not in a soap opera style showdown-in-the-Staff-Room kind of way, that never happens- no cups of tea have even been spilled in a fit of pique.
No, by drama I mean proper drama- plays, playwrights, the RSC, the Almeida; texts, criticism, performance and review. Only the other day one of my colleagues mentioned she had tickets to see Glenda Jackson as King Lear, which sparked a conversation about the wonders of live theatre, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and seeing Angela Lansbury live on Broadway.
A love of drama is what led to this month’s Library Staff Love feature, as suggested by one of our Subject Librarians Catherine, who herself is no stranger to treading the boards.
Catherine’s pick this month is Drama Online and here’s why:
“It’s such a great resource to find plays and scenes for performance/rehearsals/workshops. It’s fairly easy to use and allows you to specify the genre and cast size or you can browse through the plays or playwrights and find works that way. Some plays / productions have a video recording you can watch (Shakespeare – Globe on Screen – is my fave!) if you prefer a bit of an escape from reading.”
As Catherine suggests, as well as a vast and ever expanding collection of texts, Drama Online also features multimedia content too. So whether you’re looking for inspiration, materials for your Arts research, or merely interested in learning more about your favourite works, access to Drama Online is just an IT Username and Password away.